The Quartet and CPUs of Gamindustri
by Kaiyo No Umi
Summary: The CPUs were created by the Former Goddess, but their creation has been altered to conveniently fit into history. In reality, their origins begin with four young heroes, four people who sacrificed everything to create and protect Gamindustri. They were the Quartet. There are only two people alive who know their true, uncensored stories: Histoire and Arfoire.
1. Prologue

The Quartet: Prologue

Some time after Neptune and Arfoire's return from Celestia, Histoire had decided to officially announce the CPU of Planeptune's return with a cherry blossom viewing near the Basillicom. However, this was more of a private invitation between the goddesses and their close friends.

Currently, Noire was fussing over Neptune trying to take a bite of her pudding in front of everyone, quietly attempting to hide her embarrassment as Compa and IF watched from the sidelines, Compa just smiling along with the scuffle and IF just face palming. Blanc was trying to read a book while Vert fawned over the CPU Candidates as they happily ate and chatted together. Broccoli and MAGES. sat beside each other, the former drinking bitter green tea happily whilst the latter complained about her failure to find Doc Tear Popper, or Duck P; Falcom and Cyberconnect2 were sparring nearby with Tekken and MarverousAQL watching. Histoire floated beside the now purified Arfoire, chatting about the time they had lost and Arfoire's plan to redeem herself.

"HEY! Histy~!" "...Miss Histoire…" The twins ran up to the personified tome, pulling her out of her conversation.

"Oh, Rom and Ram. What is it?" The tiny woman smiled at the two. Ram inched closer to Histoire, her smile getting bigger and bigger.

"Histy, you have the history of the whole world right?"

"Ram, I _am_ the history of Gamindustri. But, I do. Why?" Ram looked to her twin, who nodded in approval.

"How were our sisters created. Oh and you too?" Histoire decided to ignore herself as an additive and responded to the girl.

"Well, the goddess before your sisters was defeated by the Quartet in order for her to repent. In order to repent, she created the four goddesses to act as her proxies and I was created to watch over them and record the history of Gamindustri before she disappeared. To where I do not know." Rom tilted her head, placing her hand on her chin in contemplation.

"So, does that mean that Neptune, Noire, Vert and our sister are sisters?" Arfoire stepped in to answer the young girls question.

"If you see it that way, yes. Your sister and the other CPUs are family." However, this answer confused the two even more. As the four conversed, Nepgear and Uni walked up to them. This time Uni asked them the question.

"Wait, if you're saying that my sisters and the other CPUs are related, how come they don't look the same in any shape or form?" Arfoire looked at Histoire, who, with a sad smile, allowed her to continue.

"Let me explain little goddess, and this will take some time. The CPUs are created from the former goddessk, _but their bodies are from different people_." Arfoire was met with four blank faces. With a sigh, Histoire floated in front of the silver haired woman and took over.

"Allow me to rephrase Arfoire's explanation: Neptune and the others do have the powers of goddesses, but their forms originated from real people." Upon hearing her name, Neptune plopped herself onto Nepgear's back.

"Hey Histy, I heard my name so I came a coming. What's up?" Behind her, the rest of the party came up to the small group of friends.

"Neptune, I was telling the candidates about your body's origins." Upon hearing the tome's answer. Neptune covered herself in fake embarrassment.

"Histy, that's sexual harassment~." Immediately, Neptune was smacked on the head by both Noire and IF, prompting her to quiet down. Laughing, Arfoire tried to hide her smile.

"I wonder what the Quartet would think if they saw this." Histoire sighed.

"Yes, especially _that one_." Intrigued by her vagueness, IF spoke up.

"Miss Arfoire, I understand where you're coming from with how the CPUs act, but where do the Quartet?" Only Histoire expected the answer that came from Arfoire's mouth.

"Oh, well the CPUs were based on the Quartet themselves." A collective "WHAT!?" came from the group. Soon the party began to make assumptions on what the Quartet looked like, ignoring Histoire as she floated above the group, her body beginning to shine bright.

"Since I see that this will get us nowhere, I might as well show you." The light began to get brighter and brighter, blinding the party and causing the area around them to turn a complete black with Histoire disappearing. Arfoire sighed and crossed her arms.

"Looks like I'll have to see this again." Before anyone could question her words, Histoire's voice boomed around them.

"**I will show you… the lives of the Quartet, the battle against the Former Goddess… and the creation of the CPUs of Planeptune, Lowee, Lastation, and Leanbox… as well the liberation of Gamindustri."**


	2. Purple and White: The Sword and Bo Staff

Part One: The Sword and the Bo Staff

The party was presented with a forest clearing, with the sun just starting to set. For a while, there was only the trees and the occasional wind. Neptune, bored, wandered to the middle of the clearing, seeing that Histoire was no where to be found.

"Heeeeeeey, Histy. Where'd ya go?" IF and Compa closely followed the lavender haired girl, IF trying her best to pull the girl back while Compa just watched. After Neptune refused to budge, Compa put her hands on her hips, attempting to show annoyance in her face, but failing to do so.

"Nep-Nep, if you don't come with us right now. I'll provoke your pudding rights." Upon hearing those words, Neptune cried that Compa was being mean and began to shove the two back to the others.

Suddenly, the leaves around them began to rustle, stopping the trio from taking a step closer to their friends. A figure jumped out of the tree tops and landed in the middle of the clearing It was a boy, he stood about Noire's height and had a huge grin on his face. Upon closer inspection, the whole group gasped, Neptune in particular.

He had dark lavender hair and eyes. In his hand was a wooden katana and his white clothes were dirty from moving through the trees. He looked like he was about his early teenage years. Aside from the fact that the person in front of him…

"That guy...looks just like my sister!" Nepgear's shock was obvious through her cat eyes. Despite her loud voice, the Neptune look alike showed no signs of hearing her. Noire and Uni just gaped in suprise. Rom and Ram were confused. Vert had a toying smile on her face while the rest of the makers just sat down, enjoying the show. Blanc, being a bystander for most of the scene, began to smirk.

"Well Neptune, I'd say you look better as a guy." Neptune just pouted at her companion's statement when Vert butted in, or rather, shoved her breasts in front of Blanc's face, prompting the other girl to get mad.

"Blanc, you must remember that there is a thing called karma, although one with a...stature such as yours will never understand." Before the smaller girl could release her anger, another voice erupted from the sky, catching the groups' attention.

* * *

"**Neptune!"** From the trees erupted another figure, landing not in front Neptune, but in front the boy. This figure appeared to be another male. He also wore a white shirt and white shorts. In his hand was a long bo staff, worn from countless training sessions. He had light brown hair, blue eyes and an unflinching glare. He stood about Neptune's height. This time it was Blanc's turn to be shocked.

* * *

"This guy... looks like Blanc." Rom looked at the newcomer with wide eyes while Ram had stars in her eyes, Vert looked at the smaller girl with a smirk. Mumbling to herself, Blanc glared at Vert and just looked at the two boys. The Blanc look alike pointed his weapon at the Neptune look alike.

"Neptune, don't think you can run away!" The now identified male Neptune put his free hand on his hip, his smile widening more.

"Eh, not really. I just wanted a change of scenery." The purple haired boy just shrugged and shifted into a battle stance. "Anyways, let's get started, Blanc." Immediately, the boy charged the Blanc look alike and swung his wooden blade and their battle beginning once again. Back with the group, confusion was encircled around them without mercy. Neptune's face turned stiff out of confusion.

* * *

"Wha- Wha- What's going on!? Why is there a guy named after me!" Blanc nodded her head in agreement in with her ditzy companion. Arfoire placed her hand on the shoulder of Planeptune's CPU.

"Neptune...you might as well as just sit down and wait." Neptune shook her head vigorously.

"Hey, I'm the main character! I'm supposed to know what's going on right now!" With a sigh, Arfoire opened her hand, magic shining in her hand and with a poof, a pudding appeared in her hand. Neptune's eyes immediately became big and shiny and reached out for it, but Arfoire moved it out of her reach. Trying to get the pudding, Neptune attempted a puppy face, but Arfoire, having a sterner attitude than most people, just pointed to where the group was sitting. In an instant, the pudding lover sat down in an instant.

Satisfied, Arfoire walked over to Neptune, hand her the pudding and sitting down next to her. She turned to the rest of the group that was still standing.

"Well, sit down. This fight will take some time." Looking at each other, the group fused into one and watched the two look alikes duel each other.


	3. Purple and White: Home's Flames

Part Two: Home's Flames

The battle between the two boys lasted for quite some time, but soon the fight drew to a close. Both boys were roughed up and breathed raggedly. Neptune's counterpart dashed at Blanc's with super speed. In retaliation, Blanc jumped up high into the air and Neptune ran straight at a tree. Neptune hopped up and kicked off the tree up towards Blanc, swinging his wooden weapon. Blanc spun in the air, dodging both the blade and the oncoming Neptune. Using his staff as a kick off point, Blanc jumped after Neptune and used the momentum from kicking off his weapon to swing down on Neptune. The staff bashed Neptune across the back and sent him hurtling down towards the ground. The boy slammed against the ground, causing the dirt to float up in the air and covering Neptune in dust while Blanc landed on the ground harmlessly. After a second, Blanc lowered his weapon with a sigh.

"Not done yet!" Neptune jumped out of the cloud, pulling his weapon back in his left hand. He ran faster than before at Blanc, in a flash, he was in front of his opponent. Stomping his foot on the ground, Neptune slashed Blanc, causing him to flinch and Neptune used the momentum from his first swing to unleash an uppercut to Blanc's chest. Blanc flew back and hit a tree with full force. With the wind knocked out of him, Blanc slid on the tree for a bit, then landed on the ground with his hands and knees. Neptune, grinning at the damage he had done to Blanc, staggered for a bit and collapsed onto the ground with Blanc soon following.

* * *

As the fight ended, the party watched in both awe and surprise as the two laid on the floor. After a moment, Arfoire spoke up.

"You know, Blanc, Neptune, you both were pretty strong for your age." At this comment, Blanc and Neptune stared at Arfoire, confusion still in their faces.

"Uh, what do mean Arfoire?" Vert wrapped her arms under her breasts, as if acting superior to Blanc.

"Blanc, it seems that you don't understand what is going on. Now, Arfoire, if you would kindly please explain to the immature child what she hasn't caught onto?" As Blanc's veins pulsed as her anger rose significantly, Neptune chuckled at the two while Noire rolled her eyes at Vert's attempt to tease Blanc and try to hide the fact that she had no idea what was going in.

"Annnnyways, Arfoire, could you tell us what you mean?" Arfoire shrugged and looked at the unconscious boys and pointed at them.

"Those two, are the original Blanc and Neptune." Once again, shock hit the group like a rockfall. "The Neptune and Blanc that I am talking to right now are reincarnations of those two boys."

"Woah, that's so weird…" Neptune looked at Blanc, a wide smile on her face. "Blanc, looks like were knew each other in our past lives." Blanc glowered at the purple haired girl.

"Neptune, don't be so sure we're buddy-buddy here. I mean, we just knocked each other out and-" A groan erupted from the forest clearing.

* * *

The male Blanc began to rise from the ground, loosely grasping his bo staff in his hand and staggering over to the unconscious Neptune. Upon reaching him, Blanc looked up to the orange sky and then tapped Neptune's head with the staff.

"Hey, Neptune. Wake up. The sun is almost down." The purple haired boy grunted, slowly shifting and struggling to get on his knees. Blanc dropped onto one of knees and extended his free hand to Neptune. With a grin, Neptune grabbed onto the other boy's arm and with his staff as leverage, Blanc helped the both of them stand once again.

"Thanks...Blanc." Blanc shifted Neptune's arm over his shoulder, both boys staggered out of the clearing.

* * *

"...Nevermind." The present Blanc hunched over and placed her head on the palms of her hands while Neptune glomped the slightly smaller girl, knocking her hat off as the purple haired girl rubbed her head on the other girl.

"Ya hear that Blanc, we _were _friends!" Compa giggled at her CPU's antics and IF just shook her head with a small smile on her face.

Suddenly, despite the group not moving, they began to slide across the ground.

"U-Uh. Miss A-Arfoire?" Tekken looked back and forth in surprise as did the rest.

"**Do not worry. Due to this being the memories of someone else, the scene will change without you doing anything."** The group looked around, as History's voice just echoed across their heads.

"Histy? Where are you?" Falcom looked around, MarvelousAQL closing her eyes.

"I can feel her with my enhanced ninja senses, but I can't see her anywhere."

"**I am here, beside Arfoire. But I am not with you, as I am focusing on projecting these memories…" **A collective "Ooooooh" came from the group. "**Anyways, I must continue focusing my power into the memories, so enjoy the show." **Histoire's voice faded and the two boys moved on.

* * *

Neptune and Blanc had seemed to recover from their battle. Blanc still struggled to stand upright and Neptune was walking, munching on some Healing Grass.

"Hey, where did you get those?" Neptune looked at his friend.

"Always keep them on me. Want some?" Blanc extended his hand and Neptune plopped some of the herbs into his hand. Shoving the hold pile into his mouth, Blanc crunched up the pile of grass and swallowed with a satisfying sigh. Immediately, Blanc began to be more mobile than before and stretched his limbs out.

"Ah...that's a little better. Thanks." Neptune gave Blanc the thumbs up and the two continued on their way.

"So, how's the traveling going?" Blanc turned to his friend, continuing the small talk made.

"Eh, it's been here...and there...and over there...requires a lot jumping and reactions in the air." Neptune let out a small laugh.

"Well that explains how you became so much of an aerial fighter. The village has been doing well too, they'll be happy to see you again, Blanc."

"I'm just surprised how fast you got, on the way home I see you, in the next moment you're in front of me, punch in the face and then leave, taunting me." Blanc glared at Neptune, but gave an impressed smile.

"Yeah, I got faster since I need to get around the village in small amounts of time, since I gotta be the next village elder from what Gramps is saying." Neptune looked up to the sky, seeing smoke floating across the sky. "Oh that reminds me! When the village heard that you were coming back, they prepared a feast for you. You should've seen Gramps! As soon as heard the news, he went to the tangerines and picked all of the best ones." Blanc's eyes glowed in excitement.

"Oh hell yeah! Gimme some of that!" Blanc ran ahead, ignoring the rest of his injuries and leaving Neptune in the dust.

"*cough* And he said I run fast." Placing his hands on his hips, Neptune shook his head.

* * *

The group looked on as Blanc ran on ahead and Neptune continued his leisurely pace.

"Blanc look! Your original likes tangerines just like you!" Neptune pointed out the obvious. Blanc had a satisfied smile on her face.

"He has great taste." Blanc nodded in approval. The male Neptune took a few more steps when he heard Blanc's horrified voice.

* * *

"_Neptune! This is bad! And I mean it!_" Upon hearing his friend's voice, Neptune immediately sprinted out of the forest to where Blanc was. They were at the end of the forest looking over their hometown. The village was in flames, the smoke that Neptune had seen earlier had been coming the burning buildings rather than a giant campfire. The two boys and the group could only stare as the buildings continued to perish.

"What...What is going on!?"


	4. Purple and White: Purple's Nightmare

Part Three: Purple and White's Nightmare

The two boys continued to watch their home burn down, Blanc shaking his head left and right continuously.

"The village is…" Neptune zipped past Blanc and toward the site of destruction. "Hey, Neptune!" However, Neptune's speed allowed him to get out of Blanc's sight. Gritting his teeth, Blanc gripped his bo staff and ran after his companion.

"Mom, Dad, Gramps! Where are you?" Neptune sped past, hopped and climbed over fallen building structures, looking for the village elder and his family. As he ran by, he saw the bodies of all the villagers. Upon turning a corner, Neptune saw a faint figure lying against a burning wall. The figure had the same color of purple hair, the figure's chest bleeding profusely.

"Dad, are yo-!?" As soon as he took a step towards his father, an arrow flew past him, nearly cutting his face. Neptune turned to see four soldiers, all in cyan armor, bearing weapons and ready to kill.

The purple haired boy kept his eyes on the soldiers, then changed his attention to his father, then to the soldiers again. Neptune's eyes darkened. Taking a step forward, Neptune gripped his wooden sword and rushed the soldiers.

"You bastards!" Arrows were fired at the boy, but his speed allowed him to move past them and around them. Neptune swung his weapon, but one of the soldiers swung his sword in retaliation. The blades clashed, but the soldier's steel cut through the Neptune's wood, causing him to step back. The other three soldiers unsheathed their blades, and all four of them surrounded Neptune. Two rushed the boy, but Neptune ducked over the first swing and swept his foot across the ground, knocking the soldier into the air, and then used his arm to push himself into the air, backflipping over the second soldier. As he landed behind the enemy, Neptune grabbed an arrow in each had from the man's quiver, and used one of them to cut the back of the man's exposed neck.

Blood gushed from the man's neck as he fell to the ground. The third soldier and fourth soldier charged Neptune, both swing at once. The boy jumped into the air and landed on one of the blade of one soldier, he took the soldier's surprise to tackle him and jam the already bloody arrow into his face. As they fell to the ground, Neptune hopped off the soldier, leaving the arrow in his head and landing away from him.

The fourth soldier appeared behind Neptune and swung at the back of his neck. The blade swung through Neptune, but he showed no physical damage nor reaction, suddenly Neptune slowly faded away, revealing to be an afterimage. As the Neptune afterimage faded away, an arrow flew out the Neptune and into the soldier's chest. The image completely disappeared to reveal the real Neptune closer to the body of the third soldier, bow in hand.

Suddenly, a roar of anger erupted from behind Neptune, and a metal blade slashed at the boy's back. Neptune was thrown forward from the enemy's force and land near the fourth soldier, who began to stand up despite the arrow in his chest. As Neptune tried to get up, the tip of a sword appeared in his eye sight. He turned his head to see the first soldier that he neglected during the fight. The soldier nodded to his injured companion. Once the other soldier had stable footing, the man who kept Neptune down spoke.

"Child. Those who stand against the greatness that is Tari will be crushed. That includes you!" The man raised his weapon, and swung it down at Neptune's head.

During the soldier's downward strike, something swung from behind him and bashed against his skull, the force sending him into a burning building, his body taking down the one of the few stable walls, causing it to collapse onto the soldier crushing him. The injured soldier was surprised at the entrance of this new fighter, as he took a step back.

Illuminated by the fire, Blanc stepped into Neptune's view. He looked at his friend, lying down on the ground then turned to the soldier, eyes turning fierce.

"_How dare you hurt my brother!_" Blanc ran at the soldier while Neptune stood up and moved over to his father.

"Dad…" Neptune tried to ignore the pain that was in his back and tried to shake his father. The older man grunted, barely able to move his head up. "Don't move. You're too hurt." Neptune's face was etched with panic and worry. Suddenly, Neptune's eyes lit up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some Healing Grass, handing them to his father. "Here, eat this." But his father forced himself to push away his son's arm and smile.

"No...It's too late for me kid." Neptune shook his head. He lowered his head, trying to hide his tears.

"Dad! You can't die. Not now!" Neptune's father put a hand his son's shoulder, using the other arm to raise an object from under the rubble. As Neptune looked down, he saw an orange sparkle. It was his father's katana, reflecting the flame's light.

"Take it...although you deserve much more." It was clear to Neptune that he his father was dying right in front of him and he couldn't do anything. So, he did the next logical thing his brain could think of.

"Where's Mom?" Sorrow and torture filled his father's face and he pointed to the building with the collapsed wall beside him. Neptune realized that it was him home, his heart sinking. When he took a step closer, he noticed something strange in the pile of collapsed wall: a hand.

Fear filled Neptune's heart as the thought ran into his head. He ran over to where his mother buried and tried to grab his mother's arm but immediately let go. She was already stone cold. Neptune fell to his knees, tears overflowing.

"Mom...Mom!" Multiple emotions flashed through the boy's face: fear, sorrow, _anger_. But they disappeared when his father's faint voice reached his ears.

"Your mother… she was elated to hear that Blanc was coming back… and the Elder had proposed that when your brother came home… that you'd officially become the village head. That made her even happier… She did her best to make you a new jacket…" Neptune looked to see a folded lump of white and purple clenched in his mother's hand. He gingerly pulled the fabric out of her hand and flinched as the hand made a thump on the ground. "We love you and Blanc...take care my son." Hearing his father's final farewell, Neptune turned to see his father completely slumped against the wall. Neptune didn't move, sitting next to his mother's buried corpse and staring at his father's bloodied one. Behind him, the fire engulfed his home and weakened the supports, causing the building to fall.

A scream erupted from afar, Neptune looked to see that reinforcements had arrived and had surrounded Blanc, but he still looked fine. Standing up, Neptune unfolded the bundle of cloth, revealing it to be a cloak. The cloak was all white with the hood being a dark purple, the ends of the cloak trimmed with purple. Wrapping the cloak around his neck, Neptune could feel the love that was sewn into it by his mother and then looked to his father's sword. It had a white hilt, with the blade being as long as his arm. Neptune's grip on it tightened and he ran towards his surrounded friend.

* * *

Blanc kept turning his head, keeping his sights on as many opponents as possible. Twelve soldiers surrounded him, blades all drawn. Three of the them rushed Blanc from all sides. Blanc jabbed forward, pushing one soldier to the ground. He then swung down, pushing himself up and out of the other two soldiers' range. Landing on the ground, Blanc swung his staff over his shoulder, smacking an enemy that tried to pounce from behind. Using the momentum to continuously spin his staff, Blanc turned around and gripped the edge of his weapon with both hands and swung around, spinning in a circle. Multiple soldiers were knocked away and unconscious as they were unable to block the multiple hits. As soon as one Blanc stopped spinning, a soldier rushed, poising his sword to stab. However, Blanc only smirked.

"You're late…" The blade of a katana pierced through the attacking soldier's body, his limbs dropping lifelessly, and when the blade was pulled out, Neptune appeared from behind the fallen soldier. Blanc noticed his friend's new clothing. "Hey, nice clothes." Neptune nodded.

"Mom made them...before she…" Neptune's eyes looked to the ground and stopped talking, causing his sentence to hand in the air. But Blanc looked over to where Neptune had come from, and the destruction of their home and he could faintly see their father's dead body. Anger coursed through Blanc's body.

"Oh, you assholes are so dead!" Before Blanc could make his threat reality. A laugh echoed from the air.

"You young ones are just as energetic as ever." The sound of magic resounded around the entire area, and lighting struck the remaining soldiers, vaporizing them into ash. Both boys turned around to see a figure walk up to them. It was an old man. He had a jolly smile on his face, despite blood trickling down his face and his clothes were tattered. Both boys' eyes widened and ran over to him.

"_Elder!_" "_Gramps!_" The voices of relief came out of the boys mouths as the old man gave a hearty chuckle.

"Neptune, you look well in that cloak and Blanc, you've grown well."


	5. Purple and White: The Tides of Destiny

Part Four: The Turning Tides of Destiny

As the two boys started catching up with the village elder, the group sitting on the sidelines began to stir once more.

* * *

"...I didn't expect Nep and Lady Blanc to have such a dark backstory." IF blinked her eyes, as if trying make sure that what she just saw was real. Compa nodded in agreement, her eyes filled with concern with her divine yet ditzy friend.

"I really hope Nep-Nep wasn't traumatized by this…" The two turned just in time to see Neptune give off a satisfying sigh, having finished the pudding Arfoire had given her. Licking lips for good measure, the girl turned to the scene in front of her, confused.

"Uh, girls. When did we end up in a burning village? And who's that guy talking to the other Blanc and m- Hey! Look at that the cool threads I'm wearing!" Noire made her mission to squeeze Neptune's head between her fists and twist them hard and quickly.

"_Neptune_, if you _had_ been paying attention, you would have known the terrible events that happened almost _seconds_ ago!" Neptune tried to loosen the black haired girl's grip but to no avail. Compa sweatdropped while IF sighed at the spectacle. They turned to their Blanc, who had sparkles in her eyes.

"This...this the story I've been _waiting_ for! Pencil, paper, gimme." Blanc scrambled around looking for the require material to write. Nepgear and Uni were shoved aside during Blanc's search and their heads landed on the lap of Vert, who decided to instantly scoop them up and cuddle them, saying that she would protect her 'little sisters'.

"Nepgear…" The girl being called looked to her captured companion.

"Yes?"

"She's like this normally, right?" Nepgear nodded.

"Yeah, although she's more like trying to dress you up whenever I come to visit." Uni shrugged.

"Oh, that's good to know… not!" Uni tried to pry herself loose from Vert, but Leanbox's CPU proved to be too strong for the CPU Candidate of Lastation. Ram stared with no emotion as this happened. She turned to her twin sister, who was shaking as she had watched the bloodshed.

"Hey, Rom. You okay?" The girl nodded, but she couldn't stop the shaking. Suddenly, Vert appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, little Rom. What's wrong? Do you want big sister Vert to comfort you?" Uni had given up struggling and accepted her fate of being hugged by a busty blonde for a long time while Nepgear sat there, since this was a regular thing for Vert to do anyways. Upon hearing Vert trying to do something to Rom, Blanc stopped her search for writing materials and pointed at the woman.

"Leave my sisters alone, Thunder Tits!" With that, Blanc tackled the bigger girl, causing Nepgear and Uni out of Vert's grip. The two along with the twins scrambled away, sitting near Arfoire and the makers.

"Ugh, I don't know what's scarier, what those two guys have just gone through, or our sisters." Nepgear placed her hand on Uni, trying to console the girl. Arfoire, on the other hand, could sense Histoire's annoyance despite not being present so she clapped to get the CPUs' attention.

"Hey girls. The story's not done yet. If you don't get over here in less than five seconds, I'll take away all the pudding, books and videogames you have." In the blink of an eyes, the four CPUs of Gamindustri sat obediently, although the looks in their eyes show their fear.

"Woah, how'd you do that Miss Arfoire?" The silver haired woman just shook her head.

"When you have to raise girls like these, you better know to control them." The makers and Candidates stared at the woman in awe.

"**Thank you, Arfoire…"** Arfoire just waved it off.

"Anyways, it looks like things are starting to pick up." She motioned to the scene before them.

* * *

"Elder, what is Tari?" The old man turned to the purple haired boy.

"Tari is a nation, ruled by a Goddess." Neptune and Blanc showed looks of confusion. "Tari has declared war with all the other nations and is trying to take over the world."

"Why would they attack our home?" The elder looked away, a solemn look on his face.

"Our village, our people, were a division of Tari's forces. However, we'd decided to leave Tari and find our own way of life. Create a home that was safe and peaceful, away from the war...It was only a matter of time before they found us." The old man turned to the boys. "But I had hoped the war would end before you two had come of age." Blanc shook his head in confusion.

"Woah, woah, woah. Wait a second. I went traveling for a year, but I hadn't met of any hostility from Tari at all." The elder shook his head.

"Tari does not announce its attack. Rather, it slowly builds up its men in a hidden area. Preparing to strike." He pointed behind Neptune and Blanc, when the two looked, there was a huge group of Tari soldiers. "Like right now."

"Gramps, step back. Blanc and I will take care of this while you find a safe place to hide." Neptune ran ahead, extending his left arm. But, strong winds blew Neptune back behind the village elder. He held a tome in his hand. It was black with gold lines running through the center and in the center was a bright green gem on the cover.

The soldiers approached the three, but the elder outstretched his free hand and fire shot out of it, causing the soldiers to step back.

"Elder, what is that?" In the year that he was traveling, Blanc had only seen tomes that could use one element of magic, but here the elder had just used two right in front of them. The elder had a look of determination on his face. The boys knew: No one would get past the Elder of their village.

"This...is a tome that I spent my whole life creating, _La Magie de l'Histoire_." He flipped through some pages, mumbled some words and lightning shot out the tome, killing a good amount of soldiers that were nearby. "However, this book will never be completed in my lifetime, and now it will never be." He tossed the book to Blanc, a hearty smile on his face. "Do this old man a favor will you?" The elder raised his hands, a dark substance forming in between them. "And finish the tome for me? Also, find someone who would be able to use it correctly."

"Gramps?" The elder looked at Neptune.

"Neptune, Blanc, if you head east from here, you can find the Tari's resistance group. They were originally going to be part of this village but stayed behind to fight Tari and let us escape." The force of the magic pushed Blanc and Neptune farther and farther away but pulled in the soldiers. Arrows and swords pierced the elder's body, but he did not move an inch.

"Elder!" Neptune and Blanc tried to push against the force but the elder insisted them to stay back.

"Young men! Do as the elderly tell you to do. You might get hurt if you don't…" The elder looked at the two one last time. "Blanc… you'll find him if you head east." Blanc widened his eyes but nodded. He grabbed Neptune by the arm and dragged him away. Neptune, on the other hand, tried to fight back against his friend, reaching out to the old man.

"NO! Elder, don't do this!" The elder shook his head and gave one last smile. "To think...you two had to leave your fourteen…" The old man and the soldiers were engulfed in a bright light emanating from the black substance. The light blinded covered everything, making hard for anyone to see. Once the light was gone, the only thing that remained of the elder was patch of blackened ground.

Neptune collapsed to the ground, punching it repeatedly.

"Why!? Everything we loved is gone!" Blanc placed a hand on his brother.

"Not yet." Neptune looked at the other boy confused. "You know that you and I aren't really brothers right?" Neptune nodded.

The female Neptune gave a loud "What!", but was immediately shut down by Noire.

"Well, yeah. Your mom died when she gave birth to you and your dad went missing right?" Blanc nodded.

"Yeah. But the Elder just gave some vital information right before he sacrificed himself." Neptune was confused.

"What was that?" Blanc gave Neptune a hard look in the eyes.

"He gave us a general direction of a resistance, and he just implied my dad's part of it." Neptune's eyes widened in surprise, excitement and anticipation.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's find your dad!" Blanc agreed and the two spent the rest of the night scavenging for supplies, searching for survivors and burying bodies.

* * *

"Iffy…" IF turned to her peach haired friend.

"Yes, what is it Compa?"

"That book Mr. Elder gave to the male Blanc...wasn't that-" Histoire's voice interrupted her.

"**If I believe I can guess what you are thinking, then you are right… the tome that Blanc is holding is me before I was complete…" **A loud "EH?" erupted from the group.

"N-not only is this mine and Blanc's origin story, but Histy's too!?" Neptune's mind was blown. Noire placed her hand on her chin contemplating. Blanc and MAGES. were taking notes, one mumbling about material while the other mumbling about an organization. Nepgear had her cat eyes again. Uni crossed her arms, trying to hide the fact that she was impressed. Rom and Ram had stars in their eyes as well as MarvelousAql. Broccoli squinted her eyes and pouted her lips. While Falcom and and Tekken just sat there stunned. Vert was jumping up and down.

"Why haven't they made this a game yet?" Arfoire placed her hands on the blonde's shoulders, preventing her from jumping.

"We're not done yet, kids. Look." In the center of the village, Blanc and Neptune had used the more stable pieces of broken wood to make makeshift crosses.

* * *

"We never did find any survivors…" Neptune and Blanc had buried all the bodies they had found. Both boys had backpacks on them, filled with supplies, Blanc had the _La Magie de l'Histoire_ wrapped carefully and placed in a special pocket.

"You ready Neptune?" He looked at the makeshift tombstones one last time before turning to his adopted, yet true, brother.

"Yeah, the elder said we had to move east right?" Blanc nodded. He looked at the compass he had salvaged and turned to his left.

"East's this way. Let's go." With that the two boys headed down the road. The sun starting to rise on them and their journey to find Blanc's father.

* * *

As the two walked into the sun rise, the sun began to flash even brighter, blinding the girls. Once the light died down, the cherry blossom trees had returned. Next to Arfoire, Histoire's tome laid on the ground, with the personification of the book looking very exhausted.

"I'm sorry. But I've gotten used too much power." Arfoire gingerly picked up Histoire and turned to the group.

"Well, I'd say this party's over right." A disappointed "What?" came from the girls but Arfoire shook her head. "Histoire's tired. Let her rest and we'll see some more of the Quartets' life later." Saddened groans of agreement reached the silver haired woman's ears, but she just smiled.

"But...my counterpart didn't show up at all…" Noire was on all fours. Vert sat next to her , disappointment apparent in her face as well.

"Neither did mine…" The group ignored the two as they cleaned up the area and went back into Planeptune's Basilicom.

**To be continued in…**

**Volume Two: White and Purple**


	6. Intermission One: Behind the Purple

After Arfoire took in Histoire to rest, Neptune decided to take a three hour nap since the others decided to go home. However, she dropped onto the couch instead of her bed. Nepgear, worried about her sister's health shook her sister, tried to wake her up by shaking her shoulders. She eventually gave in, placing a blanket over her sister's body and went to work and leaving her to enter the dreamy world.

* * *

In Neptune's dream, she was outside.

"Huh? Wait, aren't I sleeping right now?" There were dead soldiers surrounding her and when her perspective looked downwards, she noticed she was wearing white pants and a white cloak.

"Woah! What did I just do? Any can't I control my body?" Her dream self gave a sigh and turned around to see Blanc, her Blanc. "Blanc? What are you doing here?" Strangely, Blanc seemed timid to Neptune, but then she raised the arm she held her weapon, her left arm and Blanc took a fearful step back. Somehow she knew that she felt herself yell something at Blanc, as she had shrunk backwards once more. After shaking her katana at Blanc forcefully, Blanc hesitantly summoned her hammer.

"Wow… I'd never seen Blanc look so scared before...only desperate."

"_You… you bastard!"_

Through her eyes, she could almost feel the anger in the body she was watching through. Crouching lower, her sight rushed forward, ready to strike Blanc.

"What? No, wait!" The arm swung its weapon at Blanc, but neither Neptune nor Blanc could do anything.

* * *

While Neptune slept, Nepgear tried to do some paperwork since Histoire was exhausted as well. As she worked, Neptune, her eyes covered by her face, walked into the office. After not noticing her sister due to Nepgear working too hard, the girl was startled by her sister's appearance.

"Oh, Neptune! You surprised me." Without making a sound, Neptune gripped Nepgear's shoulder, trying to pull her away from the chair.

"...Move." The voice Nepgear heard sounded like her sister, but didn't have the same tone as her sister. When Neptune continued to convince Nepgear by tugging on her sleeve, Nepgear had no other choice to let her sister to sit down.

Immediately, Neptune grabbed a stack of paperwork, scanning through it quickly.

"Hmm...the paperwork here hasn't changed...well at least I can do something." Neptune went to work, going through stack after stack effortlessly. Nepgear was stunned. Her sister, the lazy CPU of Planeptune, was working and knew how to do it? Concerned about her sister's state of mind, Nepgear tapper her sister's shoulder. When Neptune turned to look at Nepgear, she saw something she shouldn't have seen on her sister's face at all. Neptune's eyes were still the bright purple, but they were sharp and calculating.

"...Nepgear, was it?" Nepgear nodded. How could her sister forge her name? "Well, its alright, at least she has someone to help her…" Nepgear was now completely confused. Noticing Nepgear's bewilderment, Neptune decided to ignore it and handed Nepgear a stack of paper she had worked on. "Anyways, could you check these? I'm pretty sure that I might have made a mistake here...and that she hasn't tried working at all." Slowly, Nepgear sat down, working on the papers that Neptune had worked on, at the same time looking at her sister's face once in a while. Each time she looked, she would always see the same thing, Neptune's face in deep concentration.

After a couple of hours, Neptune's head dropped onto the desk. Worried Nepgear stood up, but sighed in relief upon hearing that her sister began to snore lightly. Almost immediately, Neptune rose. However, upon waking up fully, Neptune looked back and forth confused but kept her eyes on Nepgear. Nepgear's smile worked onto her face, as she saw her sister's innocent and loving eyes once again.

"Nepgear, why am I here?" After thinking for a bit, Nepgear shook her head and looked out the window, it was dark out now.

"It's nothing, Neptune. Let's go to bed." She helped her sister up and dragged her to her room. She stopped after exiting the room to turn to the desk that she and her out of character sister were working on just seconds ago. A bad feeling crept up her throat and turned to see Neptune slowly shuffling down the hallway. "I'd better ask Histoire what happened tomorrow."

With that, Nepgear went to bed. However, Neptune's strange actions continued to plague her throughout the night.

She didn't get much sleep.


	7. Intermission Two: Behind the Colors of

Intermission Two: Behind the Colors of White and Purple

The following Neptune's strange actions, Histoire had recovered at exactly at 3:33 PM on Wednesday when three birds chirped three times, at the same time, Nepgear had attempted to wake up her sister for the third time that day while Neptune fell asleep for the third time and would not awaken after another three hours.

Once everything in her body felt well rested, Histoire used her tome to float around the Basilicom in order to get her daily work done as fast as possible due to her overexerting herself from yesterday. She received one of the greatest shocks of her life when she came to the office to see that more than three days of paperwork had been completed, but that wasn't the reason for her surprise. It was _who_ actually did the work this time, she expected that Nepgear would try and relieve some of the tome fairy's burden by doing some of her work, but… the signatures on 99.9% of the paperwork was signed by _Neptune._ Histoire had to rub her eyes just to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and to double check, she blinked, and she pinched herself to triple check.

Yes, she wasn't seeing things. Neptune had _done_ _work_, but not only work that would have taken a month for her to do on her own, but she did it in the time Histoire was asleep. A shorter time period it takes Histoire _herself_ to do this amount of paperwork. Not only did this amaze the fairy, but unconsciously seemed to annoy her and injure her pride as one of the hardest working in the history of Gamindustri… although there was one that Histoire knew who could have done this amount of work, and more, but sadly that person is long gone, lost in the annals of history due to time and the events in that person's life. With a reminiscing sigh, Histoire began to look through the paperwork that Neptune had done. Once again, the work was not only done quickly, but accurately.

As Histoire looked through the paperwork, Nepgear had given up on trying to wake her sister. She walked into see Histoire working, remembering how Neptune was acting last night, she walked up to the little tome.

"Histoire?" Catching her attention, the girl in question happily turned to the CPU Candidate.

"Nepgear, yes what is it?" At first caught off guard by Histoire's large smile, she immediately lost all surprise when she knew the reason for Histoire's smile right behind her. Noticing that Nepgear was looking at the stacks of completed paperwork, Histoire beamed. "You see what miracle has happened here?" When Nepgear nodded, Histoire gave a satisfied sigh. "It feels like Pongsmas has come early!" Histoire began to bounce around happily, but Nepgear felt uneasy because she knew the real reason for Histoire's excitement.

"Histoire…" Nepgear had to tell her. The tome fairy stopped bouncing, a relaxed smile on her face. "Um, goodness, how do say this…" Nepgear looked behind her, making sure that no one had entered the room. "...Histoire, after you collapsed, Neptune went to sleep and didn't try to help me." Histoire's face immediately turned confused. "Well, here's the thing, while I worked, my sister walked into the office and urged me to let her work." Now Histoire looked serious, she knew that Neptune wouldn't work unless her or Nepgear's lives depended on it...or when she scolded her. "As she worked, alongside the fact that she worked at the speed of sound, she didn't seem to act like herself." As Nepgear explained, Histoire's expression turned from confusion to concern. "...She acted as if this was the first time she met me, and kept saying 'her' and being ambiguous."

Taking a second to catch her breath, Nepgear finished telling her story. Histoire's mind stopped dead. She floated to the window and stared out the window.

"Nepgear…" The taller girl inched closer to Histoire. "Could you please find Arfoire?"

"Um… but why-" Histoire looked at Nepgear, her eyes looking tired and aged.

"Please?" With a silent nod, Nepgear left, going down to the Guild to find Arfoire, who was most likely with IF doing quests.

Histoire looked out the window once again. Shaking her head, she looked at her tiny hands.

"He's… still conscious… despite the forced personality changed he made me install… and then the memory loss that should have wiped him away completely…" She looked up, the sun was starting to head down at a slow pace. "Despite everything he's been through… he's still standing… he has a strong will…"

Suddenly, Histoire was hit by a realization.

"If he's still conscious, that means…" However, Histoire seemed saddened. "No… he was in a fatal condition when he was changed. There was no way for him to recover in his own body… but… there must be still hope…" Histoire's eyes twinkled, with a tiny glimmer of hope shining in her hope.

She still had a chance to fix everything.

* * *

Meanwhile in Lowee, Blanc had began writing a manuscript since night and only fell asleep due to exhaustion, exactly around the same time as Histoire had awakened.

Blanc walked into a field. A field full of dead bodies, as she looked forward, she saw a figure finish off one of the blue armored soldiers. The figure had purple hair, and wore a white cloak. Blanc was able to notice the figure almost immediately, she had been writing about him for a whole night.

"That's… Neptune's original…" When Blanc stepped forward, Neptune turned around and upon seeing Blanc, pointed his katana at her. Blanc took an involuntary step forward.

"What? Why can't I move?" Blanc had just realized that she could only see through her body's perspective and watch as the dream continued by itself. She saw clearly see Neptune's glare from the distance between them.

"_You! Because of you…" _The Dream Neptune snarled at Blanc, Blanc's dream self responding with fear. "_Draw your weapon!_" Blanc did not do as Neptune said and shook her head. Her response angered Neptune even further. "_If you have any respect for my brother, __**your original body, **__then take out your weapon __**now!**_"

Hesitantly, Blanc's other self summoned her hammer. Neptune crouched into a pouncing position. Instantly, Neptune rushed Blanc.

"_If you really are worth Blanc's life, then show me! Show me what a 'CPU' really is. Give me a reason to let you live!_" Neptune got closer and closer, and the Blanc watching this scene could feel the fear that Dream Blanc was feeling at this moment. "_Fight me, now!_" As soon as Neptune got in striking distance…

Blanc's eyes opened. She sat up, looking around, she was in her study, on her chair, pencil in hand. The dream felt so real, like it was a memory. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, that dream could not match with any of the memories that she had in her head. Eventually, Blanc just moved the dream to the back of her mind.

She had more important things to do, like writing her story.


	8. White and Purple: A Year's Growth and

Chapter 1: A Year's Growth and Love

Histoire awaited on Planeptune's balcony. After some time, Arfoire walked out onto the balcony and approached her, hesitant and worried.

"Histoire," The tome fairy turned towards the silver haired woman. "Is what Nepgear told me true?" Histoire nodded.

"If Nepgear is telling the truth, which she always does, then that means Neptune is still…" Histoire looked downwards. Arfoire took a step forward.

"Then Blanc too?" This time she shook her head.

"We have no evidence about Blanc's situation, and neither Lowee's Oracle nor CPU Candidates have told me if anything is wrong with Blanc in the last three hours. Arfoire clenched her hands.

"...Then that means we need to continue…" Histoire looked at Arfoire straight in the eyes. "...The past, if we can show them more…" Arfoire looked away, regret in her eyes. "Then maybe, they'll…" Histoire placed her tiny hand on the woman's shoulder, gathering her attention. She saw Histoire's tiny smile.

"I had same thing in mind, Arfoire." Arfoire's face turned hopeful and the two made plans to contact the party once more. Neptune and Nepgear were the easiest being that they were in Planeptune. Noire and Uni took some time to persuade, especially Noire (although she immediately folded when Neptune asked in Histoire's stead). Blanc and Vert were the hardest to get as they were preoccupied by their hobbies (Histoire thanked Rom and Ram for being able to convince _both _to come over). Finally, IF and Compa were always glad to come along.

Sadly, the rest did not make it. MAGES. and Falcom were practically unreachable, both on journeys. Tekken and Cyberconnect2 went to the mountains to train. MarvelousAQL went on tour with 5pb and Cave, while Broccoli couldn't be bothered.

* * *

The party had gathered in Basilicom's living room for the CPU. Neptune was trying to tease Noire while the latter tried to push away the former. Uni, Nepgear, IF and Compa watched this scene unfold. Rom and Ram were excitedly waited for the tome fairy and Arfoire to arrive, while Vert watched the two with sparkles in her eyes and Blanc wrote some notes down on a notepad. Finally, the two arrived with Arfoire sitting beside Neptune and Histoire floating in front of everyone.

"Hello everyone, are you ready to continue the Quartet's lives again?" She was responded by the groups' approval. Apparently, Neptune had conjured a bucket of popcorn and Vert had put on 3d-glasses. Blanc had her notes ready while Noire crossed her arms. IF sighed and Compa smiled. "Let's begin." Once again, Histoire floated into the air. She began to shine and soon the group was enveloped in a bright light once again.

* * *

The area changed to the entrance of a village guarded by Tari soldiers. In an instant, a white blur zoomed past the soldiers. They looked around for the sign of disturbance but eventually ignored it.

Suddenly, a figure jumped from a nearby bush and landed in the middle of the soldiers. This figure appeared to be Blanc; he appeared to be a little taller from when the party last left him. His hair had grown out a bit and his backpack had shrunk in terms of luggage. Blanc's clothes were torn in places but there were attempts to fix them as evident from the stitches.

With bo staff in hand, Blanc swung it around ferociously, similarly to the CPU Blanc's Tranzerin Trombe, but he added some flips and jumps to reach further. The attacked knocked fourteen soldiers, but there still plenty around Blanc.

"Intruder!" The soldiers charged Blanc, swords at the ready. However, Blanc paid them no mind and turned toward the village.

The wind picked up around the opposing men for just a moment and when the wind passed by, they stopped dead in their tracks. Their faces still showed their anger and their war cries were left in their mouths. Their bodies began to reveal cuts and spurt blood from stab wounds. Some of the soldiers fell to the ground, while others fell apart. Blanc tried his best to look away from the carnage.

The wind picked up next to Blanc and Neptune slowly faded in. He too, had grown a bit, and his clothes were tattered as well, but one item was kept in perfect condition: his cloak. Neptune's eyes had hardened from the last time the girls had seen him. He looked at the soldiers Blanc had incapacitated, but his brother looked away from him. Ignoring this, Neptune walked over the unconscious soldiers and finished them off with various slashes and stabs.

Once Neptune had finished, he walked over to where Blanc waited.

"Neptune, you're too merciless." Neptune looked at Blanc with a dull and annoyed look.

"You're too merciful. These bastards started a war; they _killed _our family. They deserve it." Blanc rolled his eyes despite that knowing it was the truth.

Neptune and Blanc have been looking for the Resistance for a year since they departed from their destroyed home. In order to keep moving, they took on jobs and quests, hence their rugged appearance.

Fortunately, they were able to gain new skills and get stronger. However, their needed a better method of carrying their weapons as they could only carry in their hands. At the same time, Tari had attacked other villages that the two were unable to save, angering Neptune each time they stumbled across a destroyed village.

* * *

The group had watched the two from afar, somewhat distancing themselves due to Neptune's harsh actions.

"Girls, look! The other me is so cool!" Blanc agreed with Neptune, to her, the ruthless young man and his merciful adopted brother was a great character trope. Vert watched Blanc take copious notes with interest.

"Wow, Neptune. Your counterpart is even bloodier. I should've expected that from Planeptune. After all, Lastation never had such a bloody backstory." Neptune shut up Norie by leaning on Noire. This caused the raven haired girl to blush immensely, from the contact or Neptune, no one knows.

* * *

Shrugging his backpack to make sure the Elder's memento, the _La Magie de l'Histoire_, was safe. Blanc made a satisfied smile when he felt the tome clap against his back. The two walked into the village.

Unlike their home and many other villages they had come across, this one was still in perfect condition but…

"Blanc, this place is a ghost town. Do you really think the info we got was good?" The two boys had eavesdropped on passing Tari soldiers that they were going to attack a village days ago during their travels, and here they were, in the same village Tari had planned to strike down.

"If this place is under Tari's radar, then is to be expected that the Resistance is-" A high pitched scream interrupted Blanc.

"**Get away from me you blue tin cans!**" The two ran to the source of the scream. They encountered a girl being surrounded by more Tari soldiers, struggling to fear herself. To the boys, she was just a girl in trouble. To the party however…

"I-I-I-Iffy! She looks just like you!" Compa shouted and pointed out the obvious and IF didn't say anything about it, she was seeing her ancestors. Was the Underworld telling her something? Or, was sh-

"Oh my, she really does look like Iffy. Interesting." Vert kept her eyes on the other IF, not because she was the past counterpart of one of her closest friends. IF had realized it too, the other IF wore a skirt. In a desperate attempt, to stop her Lady Vert from seeing any form of her in such a girly thing, the Guild member threw herself in front of Vert's view.

Sadly, this did nothing and Vert simply just shifted her body, leaning on Blanc, to look at the other IF crouch and cry as Neptune and Blanc fought off the Tari soldiers.

"N-No! L-Lady Vert, y-y-you can't look at-" IF was grabbed by Compa, who stared into IF's eyes without any form of expression or emotion. This caused the boyish girl to both blush and be uncomfortable. "Compa? What is it?" Compa smiled.

"Iffy, I think you would look good in a skirt." IF jumped backwards, her eyes widening. Noire appeared behind Compa, her arms crossed under her bust and her eyes analysing IF's body.

"Compa…" Noire threw up a thumbs up. "I agree!" The two closed on the poor girl. Vert would have joined too. However, she was too busy looking at the other IF and using Blanc as some sort of body pillow, but the smaller girl was too concentrated on taking notes to even notice a shift of perspective. Neptune sweatdropped.

"Poor Iffy…" Arfoire tried to redirect the group's attention by pointing over to where the fight was.

"Hey. They saved IF's counterpart."

* * *

The two boys and the girl sat in an alley. The boys were covered in enemy blood while the girl panted heavily.

"Thank...you…" The girl spoke between heavy breaths. Neptune dropped a hand on her head, his eyes showing a similar expression to the CPU Neptune.

"Hey, no problem. We just need some _immediate _reparation-" Neptune was interrupted by a smack to the back of the head by Blanc. "_Ow!_ Dude, I was trying to lighten the mood."

"Neptune you're not helping." Blanc motioned to the girl, whose eyes gotten larger out of what the two might do to her. "Sorry about that, my brother here can be an idiot sometimes." Ignoring the "Hey!" from Neptune, Blanc introduced themselves.

"Blanc… Neptune… thank you for saving me." The girl had gotten over Neptune's apparent joke almost immediately. She stood up and began walking down the alleyway. "Please follow me, I believe I can trust you…" She turned to Neptune with a glare. "Well, half of you." Neptune sweatdropped while Blanc gave him a "you're stupid" look.

Neptune and Blanc followed the girl, taking turns and quick ducks to avoid any more detection from Tari when Neptune remembered something.

"Oh, forget the stupid thing I said earlier, but if you want us to follow you then at least us know your name." The girl stopped and started to fidget.

"Um…" She turned to the boys, completely embarrassed. "My name is…" Neptune and Blanc looked at each other, confused.

"Your name is…"

"It's Love."


	9. White and Purple: Love and Peace

Chapter 2: Love &amp; Peace

Upon hearing Love's name, Neptune failed in trying to hide his smirk.

"Pfft, Love?" The girl in question frowned.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Neptune stifled a laugh.

"W-Well, I didn't expect to meet someone named...Love is all." Blanc swung his fist at the back of Neptune's head once again.

"Neptune, your way at finding humor is as annoying as it is interesting." Rubbing the spot he got hit, Neptune shrugged. The two turned to see Love looking at them with interest. When they noticed, she burst into a red faced mess, her hands swinging all over the place.

"O-Oh, don't get me wrong. You two just remind me of my friend." The boys looked at each other then back to Love.

"Meh." Love sighed in relief upon Blanc dropping the topic. "Anyways, where were you taking us?" Love smiled.

"Well...before you saved me. I was actually following you." Now both boys looked confused and took a step back.

"Wait, I didn't sense anything. Did you?" Neptune turned to his brother bewildered. Blanc shook his head. Love rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh, stop the praise. Its my job to be all stealthy and stuff." The two now eyed her suspiciously. "Well, I am the Wind Walker of the Resistance after all." And straight back to confusion.

* * *

"Ms. IF. Your ancestor has the same title as you do." Rom pointed out to the girl that could pass off as IF's girly twin sister. Unfortunately for IF, she was in the process of being dressed up by Compa and Noire. Vert had finally taken interest in what was going on to IF and joined in.

"C-Compa, stop that! Lady Noire, please! L-Lady Vert! No, not you too!" The poor girl was impossible to save, so the rest of the group left her to her fate and continued to listen to the conversation.

* * *

"What." Neptune's eyes blanked out. Blanc put his hand in front of his friend's face, leaving it there for a moment, shaking it up and down, and dropping back down to his side. With a sigh, Blanc put his hands to show his resignation.

"Welp, he's dumbfounded. Good job." Blanc gave the girl a thumbs up. However, more than anything, Neptune's reaction seemed to offend Love more than Blanc's sarcasm.

"Ugh, here. I'll make things simple: I am an information gatherer for the Resistance. Like a ninja." Neptune blinked and his eyes showed more color. "Well, I _am _a ninja."

Once again, the boys looked at each other, then back to Love. The difference was that they looked more at her clothing. She wore a navy blue skirt and something that resembled a shirt that actual ninjas wore. Love attempted to protect herself from their stares by using her hands to cover her body.

"Argh! These clothes are annoying!" Love spun around, turning into a IF sized tornado. When she stopped turning, she wore a more traditional ninja outfit, except that she kept the hood off. Her long brown hair was tied into a ponytail and her mouth was covered by a ninja mask. Her bright green eyes obviously showed her relief and comfort. Turning left and right to see her outfit completely, Love crossed her arms, a smug look on her face. "Well, how do I look?"

* * *

Neptune pointed to Love's new outfit.

"Hey, Iffy. Now she looks almost like you!" When Neptune turned to see that IF was still being dressed up, she turned to Blanc. Who in turn sighed.

"I got her…" Blanc stood up and walked over to the group. "_**WOULD YOU IDIOTS LISTEN TO US FOR A FRIGGIN' SECOND!?**_" Immediately, all three girls moved off of IF and sat about a couple of feet away from her. IF sat up, she looked fine except for her clothes being disheveled and her coat was removed. She moved over and sat near Neptune and Blanc, thanking them from the bottom of her heart. Happily, IF watched her ancestor speak to the past Blanc and Neptune.

* * *

Meanwhile, Neptune and Blanc were trying to think of what to say about her outfit. Blanc was the one to speak up.

"Its better." Blanc nodded in agreement and Neptune threw a thumbs up.

"Thanks." Love moved her hair aside, something very tsundere-esque. "Anyways, I work for the Resistance an-" Neptune interrupted her mid-sentence.

"WHAT!?" Love glared at Neptune and Blanc promptly smacked him. "Ow! But… when did she say that she was in the Resistance?"

"I said it _twice._ Smart one." Neptune put his hand on his chin, trying to remember. While he did this, the other two patiently waited for him.

* * *

"Neptune, your other self is practically as airheaded as you are." Blanc took this opportunity to make a light jab at her friend. Neptune took this into exaggeration land and placed one of her hands over her heart and used the other to wipe away an imaginary tear.

"Geez, Blanc. You're just as harsh as Guy-Blanc too." Meanwhile, IF happily watched the two chat as Vert, Noire and Compa mourned that their attempt to make the tomboyish IF look girly was trumped by Blanc.

* * *

After Neptune remembered that Love had revealed herself to be part of the Resistance, they continued down a street. Love began to explain her situation before they had met.

"Before I was rudely interrupted," Love turned her attention to Neptune, who in response looked away and whistled. "I act as a scout for this area, gathering information and stuff like that. However, I was trapped in here upon visiting my home…" Love sweeped her arms around. "And I couldn't get out." She looked up to the sky, a solemn look on her face.

"Tari cracked down on the people here. They assaulted anyone who was out at night, burn and ransack anything of value and destroy caravans that would bring us supplies." Neptune's eyes began to darken but Blanc placed a hand on his shoulder, easing him. "I was going to hopefully sneak out since there were less soldiers in the area. As I heard that there was some commotion at the gate." The two boys fist bumped upon hearing that they becoming a threat to Tari. "But… as I tried to sneak out, I ran into some soldiers...and then I met you guys." One of the boys chuckled.

"Heh, the ninja was seen trying to sneak out." Love twirled immediately to Neptune, but the lifted his hands and shook his head in an innocent manner. The chuckle came again, both looked to see Blanc covering his mouth and looking away. "Oh, the irony." Love's face turned into the color that her name represents and began to mumble incoherent words.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a house. It was modest in both design and nature.

"W-Well, we're here." Neptune could tell that she was struggling to hide her embarrassment, but decided that he had been hit over the head by Blanc enough times today and stayed quiet. Love walked into the house and the two followed.

As soon as Neptune took a step inside the house, a stone tub fell from an opening door in the ceiling and landed on the boy's head. Love sweatdropped and Blanc just stared as Neptune stayed in place. He struggled to looked at Love without losing his balance.

"...Ow… why the head…" Neptune collapsed on the floor, the tub comedically still attached to his head. Blanc bent over his fallen brother.

"This isn't going to do well for his mental health…" The sounds of footsteps came from behind.

"Oh, Lovey-dovey. You're back." Love's cheeks began to redden and Neptune tried to get up. All three turned to see…

* * *

"Compa!" IF's eyes did not deceive her. She was seeing a past incarnation of her close friend. Her hairstyle, her eyes, face… and enviously her body proportions were the same. Even her way of nicknaming people was similar. However, there were many differences. Her iconic hairband with a 'C' was gone and was replaced for glasses. She wore something to an sage's robe that seemed one size too big. Also, her eyes seemed more calculating and piercing than their lovable airhead's eyes.

"Woah! New character that looks almost like us but has certain features to distinguish us from event!" Noire sweatdropped at the overly long event title Neptune had given to the appearance of Compa's counterpart. Vert mumbled something along the lines of character tropes while Blanc took more notes. Nepgear and Uni marveled at how Guy-Neptune was able to get up despite the stone tub stuck to his head while Rom and Ram were, like their sister, taking notes, except these notes were about how to prank new people… and were written in crayon.

Compa had sparkly eyes. She her joy was obvious, she had an appearance that didn't include herself!

"Where's my character…" Both Vert and Noire looked down sadly, but Nepgear patted Vert on the back and Neptune glomped Noire from behind.

* * *

The other Compa looked at the situation before her: her friend Love was standing next to two boys she had never seen before in her life. One was kneeling next to the other one, who had triggered her trap and was getting up despite the tub being at least fifty pounds.

"I'm back Peace." Love gave her friend a smile. She turned to the two boys. "Guys, this is my childhood friend, Peace." Peace adjusted her glasses and gave a knowing smile.

"Thank you for the introduction my dear Lovey-Dovey. But who are these two?" Love motioned to the two.

"These two saved me from Tari's men, they are Neptune and Blanc." Peace stared at the two for a moment. At the same time, Blanc and Neptune had finally gotten the tub off of the latter's head. Suddenly, she pointed at Neptune.

"Nep-Nep." Then she pointed to Blanc. "Blanny." Both boys gave her dull looks.

* * *

On the other hand, Compa gave a squeal of enjoyment and grabbed Neptune's hands.

"Nep-Nep. My ancestor gave your ancestor the _same_ name! We were meant to be friends." Neptune smiled at her friends excitement while Blanc had the same expression the boys did. Vert gently gripped Blanc by the shoulders and pulled her into her lap.

"Don't worry, I think its a cute nickname...Blanny." Upon hearing the nickname from one of her most hated people and having said person's bust on her head, Blanc attempted to assault Vert. However, Vert used her positioning to restrain Blanc from behind with a hug, trying to negate as much damage as possible. Arfoire smiled upon seeing the ancestors of Compa and IF together again.

"Love and Peace…" Arfoire felt the comforting presence of Histoire nearby.

* * *

Peace looked behind the boys and quickly tapped the wall beside her. A bunch of clinks and clanks could be heard as the door closed itself. Neptune and Blanc looked in awe at what just happened. Peace motioned for the three to move inside.

"Come on. We must hurry." The three followed Peace further into the house...when Neptune triggered another trap that opened up a hole, which he promptly fell into.

"Why m-" Was all that Neptune could utter before he disappeared. When Blanc tried to ask if Neptune was alright, Peace waved it off.

"Don't worry, Nep-Nep fell where we needed to go anyways." With that the remaining two followed Peace through the house and deeper and deeper into the depths.

* * *

"Neptune. Your past self is really unlucky." Neptune nodded, rubbing her chin against Noire back, causing the tsundere to gasp. Why did she gasp? Only she knows.

* * *

Peace led them to an underground bunker, where Neptune was lying unconscious. Beside him was a table with six chairs, Peace bowed and used her hand to point towards the chairs. Love moved and sat down on the closest one on the right side.

Blanc helped Neptune regain consciousness when Peace spoke to them.

"Welcome to our portion of the Resistance, Blanny, Nep-Nep."


	10. White and Purple: Tari's Interruption

Chapter 3: Tari's Interruption

Peace guided the two into a room that had a regular wooden table and four chairs and beside them was Neptune lying facedown on the ground. As Neptune sat up, Blanc went over to see if he was alright. Peace whispered to Love and the girl nodded, backing out of the room. With only the two boys left, she cleared her throat and extended her arm to the chairs. The boys sat down at her offer, sitting across the table so they could look at her straight in the eye. Neptune placed his things on the table while Blanc had hung his bag on his chair and leaned his bo staff on the side of the table. Instead of sitting, Peace stood away from the table, her arms crossed and a soft smile on her face.

"Thank you for helping Love. She's my childhood friend and I'm glad she got out of trouble harm." Peace shook off her smile and took on a serious look. "Anyways, as you now know. Love and I are part of Tari's Resistance in this area." She walked away from the table, staring at the wall. "I can tell that you two are willing to stop Tari, but may I ask, why?" She turned around. "What is your reason?" Neptune slammed the table with both hands, startling the girl.

"_Those bastards took everything from us._" Neptune's eyes darkened once again, this time the fire in his eyes was burning intensely. Peace was taken aback for a second, but immediately regained her composure.

"Y-Yes, most of us have experienced the same feelings you have Nep-Nep." Neptune's eye twitched at the familiarity that Peace was giving him, despite the fact that they had just met her a couple of minutes ago and in that time span he fell prey to _her_ traps. Blanc placed a firm grip on Neptune's arm, forcing him to stay silent.

"Yeah, we have come across plenty of homes destroyed. But, for Neptune, it is probably safe to say that it Tari's actions have gone farther than personal for him." Neptune looked away with an angry huff. Peace turned to Blanc.

"Then what about you, why are you helping us?" Blanc gave her an empty stare, but answered her question.

"I'm looking for my father." Peace blinked.

"Father?" Blanc nodded.

"Yeah, before we lost the elder, he told us that my dad might be part of the Resistance." His answer seemed to convince her.

"So I assume that you believe that if you help us, then we'd lead you to your father?" He nodded again. Peace gave a sigh. These two might have selfish reasons to stop Tari's reign, but she figured that they would help out immensely. "Well, then you're in luck. Love and I were looking some people to help us on a quest, which is why I sent her out there earlier despite the danger." The door opened and Love walked back into the room, a small box in her hands. She walked over to Peace and handed it over to her. Neptune looked suspiciously at Blanc, but the other boy just motioned for him to stay quiet.

Peace thanked her friend and asked her to sit at the table. As Love sat down, Peace opened up the box and took out a navy blue band. She held it out to to them.

"This. Is our mission." At this point both boys were confused. To them, it was just a piece of fabric made into a loop. Peace put the band on her wrist and extended her arm. Her hand was surrounded by the sudden appearance of light blue blocks and white light. The boys were startled at what was occurring, but their surprise turned into awe when the mass of blocks and light vanished.

In Peace's hand, was a nodachi. It was in perfect condition and was kept in better wear than the boys' weapons. She clumsily tried to spin the handle in her hand and dropped the weapon, the blade sticking into the ground nearby Love. An awkward silence filled the room as Peace's attempt to show her skill had failed miserably.

* * *

As the four stayed in silence, the Neptune's party had gotten louder.

"Woah, Compa, did ya see that? That looked _exactly_ like how we call out our weapons!" Neptune pointed at Compa's creative and elaborate ancestor with gusto.

"Wow, you're right Nep-Nep! That was so cool!" Compa had sparkles in her eyes. As the rest of the group watched (or wrote, in Blanc's situation), Arfoire sat nearby. A prideful smirk played on her lips as her eyes showed satisfaction despite being closed.

* * *

"..." Peace was wide-eyed. She had a guilt-filled look in her eyes. Love just picked up the nodachi and twirled around with skill and dexterity. With a quick toss into the air, the blade was covered in a flash of light and flew straight at Peace's wrist, fading back into the band once again.

"Wha-Wha-Wha…" Neptune could only mutter dumbfoundedly at what he had just seen. Blanc was impressed at the display and clapped. Both Love and Peace stood next to each other and took a deep bow. Peace took off the band and handed it to Love, who placed it onto her wrist.

"This piece of material is an invention that the Resistance has created from smuggled Tari technology. This invention has enabled us to turn our weapons into accessories, making carrying things easier." A loud "Wow!" came from the girls at the side. Of course, none of the four had heard them and continued their conversation.

"However, we've only been able to create this only recently, as we need a weapon to transform into an accessory, and Tari's forces have made gathering materials to make a supply of these items in this area difficult." Neptune and Blanc nodded.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Peace turned to Neptune, she then looked to Love, who nodded and answered for her.

"In order to give the rest of the Resistance a reference to make these items. We need someone to head over to the main Resistance base." Love pointed at both Blanc and Neptune. "That's where you come in." Peace then walked closer to Neptune.

"Nep-Nep, give us your weapon." Instinctively, Neptune pulled his father's katana closer to him. Peace looked at him reassuringly and gave him one of Compa's smiles. "Don't worry, we'll just transform it into the reference that the Resistance will need to make them over there." Love turned to Blanc, who let out a sigh.

"Neptune, just let her have it." Neptune glared at him, but was unable to keep his glare and gave up. He knew that he couldn't argue with his brother, and if Blanc agrees then nothing bad will happen, right?

He handed the weapon over reluctantly. Peace took the weapon tenderly and quickly walked over to a wall. She tapped it with her foot and part of the wall slid to reveal a doorway. Taking a step inside, she turned around and winked.

"Sorry everyone, this place is restricted. You'll have to wait for me to finish working on this." The door closed in front of her, leaving the three to wait. The two boys looked at her questioningly.

"You see...Peace is the only one who knows how to make these things." She shook her wrist with the band to make a point. "And she doesn't want anyone else to find out because she thinks that someone would steal the information and sell it." Looks of understanding came from the boys.

"That makes a lot of sense." Neptune agreed with his brother. Sadly, they had to wait. So the three began to sit down and relax while Peace worked.

"By the way, how long does she take to make the accessory-weapon thing?" Love sighed.

"About three hours." Neptune bit his tongue in order to not curse out loud. He doubted that he could last _one_ hour away from his beloved katana.

Blanc leaned his chair against the wall and ducked his head, intending to take a nap. Love called out her weapon once again and began to look at it from different angles. Neptune stood up and began to run at the wall, take a step up it, and jump off the wall. He would then use the momentum from the dash at the other wall and redo the same thing he just did at the first wall. Neptune did this from one side to another, not missing a beat. "Uh, Blanc? What's he doing?"

Blanc didn't look up and kept his eyes closed.

"He's doing par-something or whatever its called. He learned it while we were traveling. I only use it to jump off walls, but Mr. Try Hard over there wants to perfect it and utilize it for combat. Hence why he's training. Plus, this is second in his training priority list."

"What's his first priority?" Blanc swung his hand lazily across the air.

"Combining his sword techniques with martial arts." As he said this, Neptune stopped and took a swing at the air with his left arm and used the momentum to fling his right foot around, stopping when his foot landed on the ground. Suddenly, Neptune dropped onto the ground, placing his head on his hands with a sigh. "What's wrong?" Neptune laid down on the floor, his arms under his head.

"It doesn't feel right without the weapon. I can't feel the flow." Love approached Neptune, her eyebrows raised.

"Flow?" The purple haired boy turned to her.

"Well, when I fight, I have a sort of tempo, a rhythm that I fight to. However, it's sort of hard to do without a weapon. You get what I'm saying?" Love put her hand on her chin, closing her eyes and taking his words into deep thought. After some time, she opened them again.

"Nope." Neptune sat up upon hearing her, glaring. "But what I _do_ know is that you're pretty experienced with your sword." He smiled, rubbing the back of his head bashfully.

"Thanks, I have to live up to my dad's name afterall." Love looked at Neptune questioningly. "Well, I just gave Peace my dad's sword, it's a dear memento to me." Love's eyes widened.

"Uh, oh… That's not good." As the concern oozed from Love's voice, Blanc let his chair fall onto all four legs.

"What's 'not good'?" Love turned to the wall, fear and worry etched into her face.

"When Peace works on anything, she tends to go overboard…" She turned to Neptune. "And it usually ends with the item or project she's working to become irreparable by even the most talented blacksmiths."

Silence.

Suddenly, Neptune and Blanc stood up. Their faces indiscernible due to them angling their heads low enough for their bangs to cover their eyes.

* * *

"Hey, Neptune." The girl in question turned to her best-lonely-friend. "Has Compa ever overdone anything?" Neptune nodded.

"And...what's happened as a result?" Vert asked this question. IF leaned over to let the CPUs hear her better.

"Well, she tries super hard and…" IF angled her head downwards. Blanc swallowed in suspense, dropping her notepad and pencil.

"And?" Compa blinked, oblivious to her friends' conversation.

"Well, she's so focused on her task, her task gets… for lack of a better word, obliterated." Neptune's words hung in the air and the group turned to the two boys standing still.

* * *

Neptune turned to the wall that Peace vanished through. He took a deep breath, and exhaled. Almost immediately, his face turned from calm tranquility to desperate fear. Neptune sprinted at the wall, but was stopped by Blanc's timely tackle.

"NO! LET ME GO! LEMME GO!" Both Blanc and Love grabbed one of Neptune's arms. The boy in captivity struggled against the two, but his emotions clouded his better judgement and was unable to do anything but thrash in the arms of his comrades. "DAD'S KATANA! I GOT-"

A swift chop to the neck from Love, and Neptune's body slackened and his mouth was silenced. Blanc was surprised at the girl's quick actions and the results it achieved.

"Uh…" Love looked at Blanc with a smile.

"Even if you guys hadn't saved me back then, I wouldn't have gotten down without a fight." A droplet of sweat slid down Blanc's neck, but he kept a straight face.

"Duly noted." With a nod from Love, the two dragged Neptune to a chair and sat down themselves.

* * *

"Woah, Iffy. You were so cool back in the past." IF happily took the compliment...until she realized what Neptune was implying.

"Hey!? That's my ancestor, not me!" IF glared as Neptune winked at her. "I'm not old!"

"Sorry, this scene was getting too serious for me. I had to do it. I mean, MAGES. did title me the 'Mood Breaker', right?" Somewhere in the corners of Gamindustri, the girl known as "the Mage" sneezed, looked left and right, shrugged and continued her search for Doc. P.

"Neptune… Do you really wanna see what I can do?" IF raised her hand threateningly. Compa gently held the angry girl's arm.

"Now, now, Iffy. Nep-Nep didn't mean it." Compa's smile suddenly felt sinister to Neptune. "Right?" Neptune suddenly shrank back.

"Y-Yeah! Sorry!" The purple haired girl hugged the person closest to her, which happened to be Noire. In response, the black haired girl sat there, a mix between surprise and embarrassment molded her face to strange looks. Uni looked on in awe, she had never seen her sister make so many faces in a short amount of time.

Compa looked at IF, and the girl reluctantly accepted the CPU of Planeptune. IF turned back to the story that they were watching previously.

* * *

Blanc and Love sat the table, waiting for Peace to return and for Neptune to wake up. Suddenly, the whole room began to shake. Neptune collapsed onto the floor and the two helped him up. After that, Blanc grabbed his bo staff and headed for the doorway.

"Blanc, where are you going?" The boy stopped to look at Love.

"I'm going up to see what's happening." Love attempted to convince him to take her with him but stopped her dead in her tracks. "No, with Neptune still unconscious, no would be able to protect Peace...or Neptune if Tari somehow found this place. Stay here." After taking a step forward, Blanc turned around once again. "When Neptune wakes up, tell him where I went and then come after me." Love took a second before agreeing and Blanc left the room.

Upon leaving the household, Blanc could see smoke in the distance. Running as fast as he could, Blanc headed towards the site. On his way there, he was intercepted by Tari soldiers, all of them claiming that he should stay out the way.

"Tari…" Blanc spoke through gritted teeth and got into a fighting position, bo staff in hand. The soldiers pulled out bows and notched their arrows. Blanc crouched lower, ready to act. When the arrows fired, Blanc spun his weapon while moving his arm rhythmically left and right. This caused the arrows to bounce off the weapon. Blanc dropped onto one knee and pushed himself upwards and towards the soldiers. As he fell, Blanc thrusted his weapon and stuck one of the soldiers in the chest, knocking him away. Landing, Blanc turned around, swinging his weapon in a downwards motion, knocking the goons around him off the ground.

Soldiers swung their weapons from all directions. Unlike Neptune, who dodged out of the way, Blanc used his weapon's reach to his advantage, blocking and repelling attacks and soldiers with accuracy and agility. The soldiers could not touch the boy and fell prey to his reach and skill.

Once he made sure that all of the soldiers were either incapacitated or dead. Blanc continued toward the source of the tremor that he had felt earlier. When the smoke from overhead got closer and closer, he could see what caused the tiny earthquake.

Dead villagers surrounded a collapsed building and in front of the structure was a giant minotaur like soldier gripping onto the neck of a survivor. The villager's faced was etched in pain as he struggled to free himself of the monstrous grip that surrounded his neck. The giant soldier shook the man, screaming in his face.

"Where are they? Where is the Resistance?" The villager shook his head, pleading that he knew nothing. The monster clicked his tongue, and added pressure to his grip. The villager's limbs went limp as the sound a loud crack was heard.

Blanc gripped his weapon tightly and approached the monster.

* * *

"Woah, that was brutal." Neptune frowned in disgust. Rom hid behind Ram and Ram hid behind Blanc. Vert covered her eyes while Noire gaped at the monstrosity. Uni looked away while Nepgear screamed "Oh my Goodness!". IF was startled by Compa burying her face into her chest and held the other girl tightly. Arfoire said nothing but glared at the minotaur soldier.

* * *

"HEY!" The minotaur turned around to see Blanc, and upon seeing the weapon in his hands, he grinned.

"Heh, the little kid over here thinks he can beat me with that puny stick? What a laugh!" The minotaur tossed the corpse aside, eliciting Blanc's anger.

"He said that he didn't know anything, right? So why did you do that!?" The humanoid smirked.

"Anything useless will be destroyed. Anything in our way will be eliminated. Anything that resists Tari will be decimated. This is Tari's oath!" The minotaur man reached behind him and pulled a double headed axe. The weapon's blades were three times the size of Blanc's head and the hilt and handle were twice the size of his bo staff, but the soldier before him held it like it was tree branch. "I am a proud Captain of Tari! And you fit the oath of Tari. You will experience all three ends by this axe!" Out of nowhere Blanc stared at his opponent with dull eyes.

"Don't those three mean the same thing?" The minotaur glared at him.

"What?"

"Destroy. Eliminate. Decimate. They mean the same thing. So in reality you're talking about only one fate." The monster growled at him.

"You dare make a fool of me? Die!" He swung his axe at Blanc, who promptly jumped backwards to avoid the attack. His face turned from serious to dull again.

"I just Neptune'd didn't I?" Blanc sighed and ran towards his opponent.

* * *

Neptune puffed her cheeks out at Blanc's comment.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Compa patted the girl's head in attempted to calm her down. IF, Noire, Uni, Blanc and Arfoire gave her a "It's too obvious to even comment about it" look. Rom and Ram hid behind Vert as the battle began.

"**Well, this is turning out delightful." **Histoire couldn't tell what was worse: How Neptune and company act, or whatever the future holds in store for them.


	11. White and Purple: Battle with Muoni

Chapter 4: Battle with Muoni

Neptune stirred awake, his vision slowly coming back to him. Love left her seat and went over to the now conscious boy.

"Hey, are you alright?" He nodded in response. However, Neptune tried to hide the fact that his head was hurting and held onto his head. Love wasn't deceived. "Yeah, right. Anyways, there's trouble."

"What?" Before Love could explain, the room shook, nearly knocking Neptune off of his chair. "Wha-!" She turned to the door.

"There's something outside causing trouble from what I can tell. Your friend went out there alone to see what's going on." Neptune immediately stood up, but the dizziness caused him to stagger before having equilibrium.

"Why didn't you stop him!" Love shook her head. He sighed, remembering that Blanc is one of the most stubborn people he knew, besides himself. "Well, why didn't you go with him for backup?" Now, Love then repeated what Blanc had said to her to Neptune. The boy furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing Love's explanation.

"So, just sit tight and I'll come back with Blanc." Neptune took a step forward, intending on shoving past Love.

"I'll go!" As he passed the ninja girl, he felt a strong tug and was thrown back onto the chair.

"No! Even if you do go out there, you don't have a weapon. What would you do if there was an actual fight?" Neptune gritted his teeth.

"I'll steal a weapon." Love shook her head.

"I'm sorry Nep," Neptune was taken aback by the shortened version of his name. "But I have to help Blanc, if you go too then who'd protect Peace?" The boy clenched his fist and turned around.

"Fine. I'll wait for Peace." The ninja girl smiled and turned to leave, but Neptune called out to her.

"Why?" Peace looked at the boy. He was still facing the wall, but he was staring at his fist. "Why are you two so friendly with me and Blanc?" Love sighed and dropped her hand on Neptune's shoulder, causing him to tense up.

"What do you mean? We're friends, and friends help out each other." With a pat on the head, Love ran out of the room.

Neptune slowly turned to the door that Love ran out of, a small smile on his face. His eyes were glowing and he let go of his clenched fist.

"Friend, huh?" Neptune walked over to the wall and leaned on it, his smile widening. "Don't worry. If you really mean it, then I'll wait." Neptune closed his eyes. "That word… It feels nice to hear it from someone other than Blanc… " Now he let his head rest on the wall. "Nep-Nep, and Nep… I'm gonna need sometime to get used to that." Neptune opened his eyes to see Blanc's bag still on the table. He walked over to it and opened the bag, reaching inside.

As he grabbed onto the object he was searching for, the hidden wall opened and Peace walked into the room. There was a white object in her hands…

* * *

Neptune turned to IF, elbowing her and raising her eyebrows repeatedly with a huge grin on her face.

"Hey, Iffy. You hear that? It sounds like your ancestor just made an event flag with Guy-Me." IF looked at the girl, annoyed. With a sigh, she tried to ignore the girl prodding her.

"Whatever. Anyways, I was surprised to hear Compa's nickname for Nep, but I didn't expect mine to show up too." Arforie nodded.

"You know, they say that 'everything repeats itself'." Arfoire spoke with her arms crossed. The Candidates were in awe of the missing Quartet's wisdom...despite the phrase being a common one. Neptune giggled and patted Arfoire on the back.

"You know, you sound just like an old lady, Arfoire." Neptune was suddenly pulled away by Noire. If Arfoire still had some evil inside her, she would have raged immediately. However, the woman just laughed it off.

"Well, to be honest, I am _centuries _old. I can't say that I'm young at all." The woman smiled and gave the purple haired girl a hug. "I mean, if was in denial, I would have knocked you all the way to Celestia." Neptune smiled for two reasons: One, she wasn't going to die by an angry old lady and Two, Arfoire was nice...and huggable.

As the two continued their intimacy, Noire began to twitch. It appears that she wasn't used to anyone other than Compa or IF being close to Neptune. Before anyone could console the girl, Histoire spoke up.

"**Noire, just remember: Arfoire only sees you four as a mother would see her daughters."** Noire sighed, but then gasped as she heard giggling from behind her.

"Okay, who's giggling?" She turned to find the culprit, but everyone around her feigned innocence. After minutes of interrogation and getting no progress, Norie gave up and returned to the story.

* * *

Blanc slid across the ground, reeling from the blow his weapon had blocked. The axe had chipped his bo staff a little. He stood up, and glared the minotaur man for damaging his weapon. The opponent, on the other hand, laughed from the bottom of his belly.

"Would you look at that? This little munchkin is mad that I scratched his stick." The man suddenly turned serious and swung his axe downwards at Blanc. "That's more where that came from, courtesy of Captain Muoni!" Blanc sidestepped out of the axe's way. He hopped onto the hit and ran towards Muoni. Muoni grinned and pulled his axe out of the ground with great force, flinging Blanc behind him and at a wall.

Blanc flipped over and used his legs to land on the wall and bounce off of it. He made a sigh of relief when he landed.

Muoni's voice rang in his ears almost immediately.

"Don't think you're out of the clear yet kid!" Muoni swung his axe at Blanc, and he had to roll in order to get away, the wall's debris covering him. Muoni lumbered over to the pile that he had created. Shouldering his axe, he laughed once again. "Well, that's that! I didn't expect much from the kid. He was too tiny to be a threat anyways." The pile suddenly burst, the fragments from the pile creating a dust cloud in front of Muoni.

"Think again!" Muoni turned his head to see Blanc on one of the blades of his axe.

Blanc gripped his weapon with both hands and swung at Muoni's head with all his might. Using the force he had just applied, Blanc flung himself into the air and away from Muoni's attack range. He pointed his weapon at his opponent, a cold glare on his face. "I won't go down from something as weak as that." Muoni shook his surprise and made a big smile.

* * *

"I bet my pudding on the minotaur guy!" Blanc whipped her head to Neptune.

"Neptune, what are you- Are you stupid or something? Why are you betting on who win-" Blanc saw the others placing bets on either her past self or Muoni.

"This sounds delightful, I bet the next five games I plan to buy on Past Blanc." Vert placed in her bet.

"Hey, listen to me will ya!" Her signature red eye had appeared, but seemed to cause no effect due to their current distraction. Blanc sighed and pushed her way into the group. "...Three tangerines on Past Me." Neptune's eyes twinkled upon hearing Blanc's bet.

"Getting narcissistic, aren't we Blanc?" The brunette glared at the pudding lover.

"Can it!" Neptune laughed and added her bet into the rest of the bets already placed. For Muoni there was: A pudding from Neptune; three cosp- ribbons from Noire; a robot model from Nepgear (who really wanted to upgrade it), a hairband from IF (she'd rather die than bet one of her phones) and one of Blanc's books ("Oi! Why did you bet that!?") from Ram. And for Past Blanc was three tangerines from Blanc, five games from Vert, a rifle scope from Uni (she really wanted to put it on one her precious guns too!), a box of crayons from Rom, a med kit from Compa and...a picture of Histoire!

Everyone looked around to find who owned such a cute picture of Histy, but no one fessed up. Arfoire, however, whistled suspiciously.

* * *

"Well! This is getting interesting!" Muoni removed his weapon from his shoulder and raised into the air. "See if you can dodge this!" He threw the weapon at Blanc, who dodged to the side in response. "_Raaaaargh!_" As Blanc moved aside, Muoni ran at Blanc. His arm grabbed Blanc by the neck and caused him to drop his bo staff. He tackled Blanc into a wall, causing it to collapse. He lifted Blanc into the air, his grip as strong as steel and threw him hard against the ground, Blanc's body making a loud thud as it made contact.

Blanc rolled onto the ground, pain coursing through his body. As he tried to get up, Muoni slammed his giant foot onto his back, effectively pinning him down. Muoni laughed as his opponent tried to struggle out from under him.

"Heh! All bark and no bite!" Muoni began to add force to Blanc's back. The boy showing pain under the strain that the foot was causing to his back. "This is the end, munchkin!" Muoni raised his foot, ready to send his foot and crush Blanc's spine.

A tiny black object flew at Muoni, hitting him in the cheek. Muoni stumbled backwards and fell to the floor, covering Blanc in dust. A figure landed next to Blanc, wrapping an arm around his waist and jumping away. After landing a far distance away from Muoni, hidden behind a building, the figure placed Blanc on the floor gently. When Blanc lifted his head, he saw the familiar color of navy blue before losing consciousness.

* * *

"Oh. My. Pudding. Blanc you got destroyed!" Neptune waved her arms at her brunette friend. Blanc looked on, speechless. Arfoire cleared her throat, getting the attention of the group.

"In all honesty, Blanc hadn't perfected his fighting style at that point in time. If you had looked closely to his other fights, Blanc relied on his staff's range to out reach his opponents. Since his current enemy was… huge, it was obvious that Blanc wouldn't have had experience fighting that monstrosity." Noire and Vert approached the silver haired woman.

"What about us?" Arfoire contemplated for a bit before answering.

"I'm not sure about Noire, but Vert might have done better than Blanc at this point in time." Vert made a smug smile and crossed her arms. Blanc, on the other hand, made a sour expression while Noire was downcast. "However, I believe that either Neptune or Love would have been the best ones to fight Muoni." Vert was suddenly in front of Arfoire, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"How!? How can Neptune's past self be better than mine!" Arfoire ignored the fact that she didn't include IF's ancestor and gestured to the story.

"Just take a look."

* * *

Love placed her fingers on Blanc's neck, sighing in relief when she felt a pulse. She returned to the raising behemoth. Muoni plucked the object, a ninja star, from his face. He saw Love land on a rooftop and glared at her.

"Were you the one who interrupted my fun?" Love crossed her arms and deepened her glare.

"Since you were the one about to snap my friend's spine in half, then yeah. I _ruined_ your fun." Muoni growled at the girl and dashed towards her. He threw his fist at her, but Love simply vanished and Muoni's hand broke through the rooftop. Love landed next to where Muoni's hand had punched through and ran up his arm. Before Muoni could act, Love was at his shoulder.

"What?" Love raised her arm and it was covered in a flash of light, but instead of her nodachi. A qatar appeared in her arm, and she thrust the weapon at Muoni. The minotaur man tilted his head so that Love's weapon would only graze him and he freed his arm from the roof, his arm pushing Love as he turned. _How did she summon that weapon from out of nowhere? _Muoni thought as Love landed a safe distance away from him.

Muoni stomped over to where his axe lay, and pulled it out of the building it had smashed into. He looked at Love, his eyes burning. Love crouched into a position similar to IF's fighting style, except that she held only one weapon instead of two. One of her arms was outstretched and the other one was close to her side, fingers spread.

"I'm going to _destroy _you!" Muoni charged the girl, weapon raised. In an instant, Love vanished once again. He stopped dead in his tracks, searching for the girl.

Suddenly, Muoni felt pain around his legs. He looked to see that they had been slashed, leaving wounds that gushed out blood. Love appeared behind him, her qatar held out. The weapon was covered in Muoni's life blood. She turned to face him.

"I've cut your nerves. Don't even try moving." Muoni, not buying her bluff, tried to turn around, but fell to the ground instead. Love placed her hands on her hips. "Hmph, I guess you nothing but a meathead." Muoni growled fiercely at the girl, but was unable to get his legs to respond to him. Love approached the man, her weapon poised to strike. "This will end it."

As Love closed the distance between her and Muoni, a strong gust of wind blasted her backwards. Love rolled along the ground, grabbing onto a piece of debris in order to not be blown away by the wind. When the wind died down, a figure almost as big as Muoni appeared beside the fallen man.

"You've made a fine mess of things, Muoni." The man being spoke to turned to the figure.

"Brother!" Muoni's brother bent down and threw one of Muoni's arms over his shoulder, lifting him up. "I'm sorry, Centuro. I was caught by surprise." The man named Centuro shook his head.

"It's fine. We did not expect Resistance forces to have such a caliber of skill." He looked at the girl and he pointed his hand at her. "It has been a fine match, but it is time to end you." A ball of fire shot out of his hand. When Love tried to move out of the way, the flame followed her, growing in size. She pulled kunai from her belt and threw it at the fire, but the projectile was effortlessly consumed.

"Why did I try that?" Love stepped back, covering her eyes from seeing her imminent death.

"Absolute Zero!" Instead of feeling intense heat, Love felt the presence of cold. She opened her eyes to see a pillar of ice blocking the fire's path. Once the fire dissipated, the pillar of ice shrunk to nothing. Love turned around as she heard footsteps behind her.

The _La Magie de l'Histoire _in his hand, open and flipping through pages and in his outstretched hand was a white band. Neptune stood, ready for battle. Behind him was Peace, and in her arms was the unconscious Blanc and his bo staff that was discarded during his fight with Muoni.

"Nep! Peace!" Love ran to them, and upon getting closer, she nearly stopped approaching them when she saw Neptune's face.

* * *

"Uh-oh. Guy-Nep is really angry." IF felt chills run down her spine as she watched Neptune walk past Love and closer to the two giant brothers. The group watched in silence as Neptune glared down the two men.

* * *

"You… You were about to kill Love." Neptune's glare deepened. He then glanced at Blanc, grinding his teeth. "And you almost killed Blanc." He looked at the two, his eyes almost similar to CPU Blanc when she's angry. He raised his arm, and it was covered in a flash of light, his father's katana appearing in his fist. Centuro widened his eyes upon seeing Neptune's weapon appear, but then smirked. He then turned his gaze behind Neptune to see Peace.

"So, that's her." Peace tensed up, feeling Centuro's gaze on her. "Peace, the young genius." Bearing his teeth, Neptune tossed the _La Magie de l'Histoire _at the three and charged Centuro and Muoni.

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Neptune lowered his weapon to the ground, ready to strike at the two. Centuro pointed his arm at Neptune, shooting another blast of fire. Neptune slashed at the fire, becoming engulfed in the explosion. However, Neptune ran out the blast unfazed by his burns and rushed the brothers.

"Impossible! He's a monster!" Centuro raised his arm into the air, the area surrounding him, Muoni and Neptune in a bright light. Neptune swung his weapon again before being completely blinded by the light. When the light faded, Neptune stood where Centuro and Muoni once stood, but his opponents were gone.

Neptune looked left and right before roaring and slicing at a nearby wall. The wall showed a clean cut before falling prey to gravity and hitting the ground.

"_**YOU BASTARDS BETTER RUN! BECAUSE IF I SEE YOU AGAIN, I WILL LEAVE NOT EVEN A DROP OF YOUR BLOOD BEHIND!" **_Neptune shouted to the skies before returning to his friends.

* * *

"Nep-Nep… the old you is really like Blanc." Compa spoke with wide eyes. Neptune and Blanc looked at the girl. Arfoire sighed, her eyes looking at the scene with sadness.

"If only you knew…" Arfoire could feel Histoire's comforting presence nearby.

* * *

Neptune and the others returned to Peace's house, treating Blanc and Neptune while Peace now changed Blanc's weapon just like she did Neptune's. Neptune and Love awaited Peace to finish her work and for Blanc to awaken…


	12. White and Purple: Escape and La Magie

Chapter 5: Escape and _La Magie de l'Histoire_

As Neptune and Love waited for Blanc to wake up and for Peace to return in the hidden bunker, Arfoire took the time to tak.

"As you saw earlier, Neptune just busted through that magic with sheer force and Love has fast reaction time and speed. Blanc, on the other hand…" The party quieted down, Blanc in particular, to listen to the other Blanc's weaknesses. "Has a long range weapon and depends on that weapon's range to counter out enemies. His opponent was not only big, but had a longer attack range and was like Neptune in terms of closing in on his opponent, although more aggressive." Arfoire shook her head. "Blanc at this point in time barely stood a chance." Blanc frowned.

"But what my other self's high jumps?" Vert leaned on Blanc's shoulder, making the smaller girl uncomfortable and annoyed.

"Blanc, even Love had trouble staying close to the opponent with her speed. What makes you think that other Blanc's jump would made the fight any different? That giant would have swatted him out of the air." Blanc hesitated in responding and sat down, looking for a way to say that her past self had a chance in fighting his opponent. While Blanc thought, IF approached Arfoire.

"Wait a sec. Arfoire, you said that 'at this point in time'." Arfoire smiled.

"Perceptive as ever, IF. Yes, Blanc does get stronger." Blanc raised her head, hope filling her eyes. The others either laughed or sweatdropped at the small girl's reaction. Arfoire just gestured to the two. "Just watch."

* * *

Blanc was currently being treated by Love and Neptune was fretting over his cloak. His cloak had some holes burned into when he plowed through Centuro's fire ball. Love finished covering Blanc's wounds and turned to Neptune trying to remove the burned parts and fix the holes with his bare hands. After watching for some time, she spoke up.

"You know, I might not be able to remove the burnt parts, but I can sew up the holes." Neptune whipped his head to Love, his eyes and the atmosphere around him sparkling.

"Really!?" Love nodded and reached into her sleeve and pulled a needle and thread. Neptune started ask how she was able to hold them there without getting stabbed, but then retracted his question. He then noticed the peaceful concentration she had as she worked and the speedy pace she had. "Love…" The girl in question turned to the boy, working despite her eyes being off of her objective. "You're sorta like a housewife." The girl turned to him, her face turning a light pink.

"Wha-!" She stuttered as his words processed through her mind. "I am anything _but_ a housewife." She returned to her work furiously, prompting Neptune to worry about his cloak once again. When Neptune wouldn't leave her to her own thoughts, she snapped at him. "Would you let me work on this in peace and check on Blanc?" The purple haired boy followed the girl's order and looked after his brother. As she worked on Neptune's cloak, Love felt her blush become stronger and stronger.

* * *

"Wow. Other-Me is really good at event flags." Neptune assumed. Vert and Uni agreed with her. IF and Noire stood against this idea, partly because the former did not want the purpled haired boy have any relation to her ancestor besides friendship and the latter due to being a tsundere.

As the debate over the past Neptune and Love continued, Nepgear turned to Compa.

"Compa? What do you think about this?" Compa tilted her head.

"I think that Past Nep-Nep and Miss Love have a very close relationship despite knowing each other for a short time." Compa's innocence showered the area, blinding all that looked in her general direction. Arfoire sighed.

"Hey. Blanc's waking up." The group turned to see the body of Past Blanc stir. Past Neptune rushed to his brother's side.

* * *

"Blanc! Are you alright?" The brunette boy nodded, shaking off the feeling of waking up.

"Yeah, that guy really did a number on me." Neptune exhaled in relief and pulled a chair nearby Blanc.

"No kidding. Peace and I were heading over there when I barely noticed you lying in an alleyway. Peace has your bo staff, she found it when we went to find Love." Blanc nodded and tried to stand up, using Neptune as support. He staggered over to where his bag sat on the table, shifted through and turned to his friend.

"Where's the Elder's tome?" Neptune gave a blank stare and then looked away.

"Well…" Suddenly Blanc approached Neptune, an intimidating look on his face, causing Neptune to look away, sweat dripping down his face. "I took it with me since I didn't have a weapon until Peace gave me my band." Blanc inched closer, his eyes becoming solid red circles. "I...used it...and…" Blanc was basically at Neptune's face, Love stopped sewing and looked at the two. "I… might have thrown it away in a fit of anger." Blanc grabbed Neptune by the neck, shaking him.

"YOU WHAT!?" Blanc's shakes began to intensify and Neptune tried to pry himself from his grip. "That was the _Elder's_ tome! Do you have any idea what you've done!" Love approached the two, trying to calm down Blanc. The angry boy did not even seem to give the girl a look and continued to throttle Neptune. The boy in the deathgrip attempted to speak but Blanc's hands crushing his neck prevented him.

* * *

"I say Blanny, your past self _does_ have your anger. Although he seems more conserved than you." Blanc approached the blonde.

"And what does that mean? And don't call me that!" Blanc began to imitate her past self and began to choke Vert. IF then began to imitate her ancestor and try to ease the CPU of Lowee. Noire crossed her arms and looked away.

"Now you know how it feels to be teased…" Neptune leaned near Noire, her lips mimicking those of a cat's.

"Heeeh, is something from Nowa?" Noire turned to Neptune, her face blushing a deep red.

"Don't call me Nowa!" Noire shook her arms at Neptune, feigning anger. Uni and Nepgear were secretly recording Noire's reactions, with Uni saying that this is a precious time for her. Rom and Ram hovered over their sister and Vert, wondering if they were play fighting Arfoire sweatdropped. She could practically sense Histoire putting a hand on her head, trying to massage her headache. Compa clapped her hands together.

"You guys are so loving~!" Blanc and Noire turned to Compa, both blushing, while Vert and Neptune just smiled. Arfoire chuckled.

* * *

As Blanc continued choke out Neptune, Peace entered the room. She watched as Neptune turned blue, approached Blanc and bonked on the head with a black book. Blanc dropped Neptune in order to rub the place Peace had hit him. Looking at what Peace held in her hand, Blanc's eyes widened.

"That's-" She held up the _La Magie de l'Histoire_ in her hand.

"Neptune tossed it me." Blanc gave a silent apology to Neptune, but it was ignored due to Neptune gasping for breath. Peace then handed Blanc a dark blue gem held by a light blue ribbon. "Here." Blanc took it, confused.

"What is it?" Peace cleared her throat. Realizing that she was going to go into a long explanation, Blanc sat down.

"That is your bo staff." Peace turned around, her hands behind her back, and paced left and right. "Like Neptune's wristband, I have transmuted it to an accessory, this one turning a choker. Why? No reason. I have also fortified the weapon itself to make more durable to other weapon strikes as it was damaged when I picked it up. In order to do so, I used alchemy to fuse.." Peace began going into the details of what she did in order to fortify Blanc's weapon. Blanc stared ahead, waiting patiently for her to finish. Love checked on Neptune and returned to fixing his cloak. Neptune finally got oxygen back into his lungs and watched over Love as she worked. He then noticed that Love was working further than he had expected, working on the edges of the cloak.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Love did not look up from her work.

"I noticed that this was meant to be a jacket, not a cloak, so I'm gonna finish it up." Neptune was surprised, Love can be really nice. _Well, when she's not snapping at me._

"Thanks!" Love waved him off. Neptune turned to see Peace finishing her talk about her handiwork.

"Anyways, I'm just rambling. Try it out." Blanc held out his arm, in flash of white light and blue blocks. His bo staff was now black in color and Blanc widened his eyes in surprise.

"Woah! It's so light." Blanc swung and spun his weapon around, amused. While he was testing out his weapon, the end of his weapon smacked the back of Neptune's head. A loud thwack resounding as he fell to the floor.

"Ow." Blanc rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Sorry. I guess I got carried away." Neptune stood up, an annoyed look on his face. He pointed at the weapon.

"That hurt." Peace puffed out her chest, making Love a little self-conscious.

"Well, I made it stronger after all." Peace turned to Love. "Love, I need you to make a rendezvous with the main Resistance." Love blinked.

"Why?" Peace crossed her arms.

"That magic user, what was his name? Centria?" Somewhere far away, Centuro sneezed and looked around. "Whatever his name is, before Neptune tried to rip him and his brother an new one, I believe that he noticed me." Blanc and Neptune looked at her.

"Which means?" Peace opened the hidden wall and looked at the boys.

"This town will be targeted even more now that they now I'm here." Both boys looked at Love, hoping for an explanation.

"Peace is being hunted down for being one of the smartest people alive. She's the only person who can change our weapons like this." Neptune was widened his eyes in realization but Blanc blinked in confusion about one detail.

"Wait a sec, didn't you want us to bring these to the Resistance so that other people could make this?" Peace nodded.

"That _was_ my intention, but now the game plan has changed." Peace walked into the room. "I'm taking everything I need, so Lovey-Dovey could you go now so we can reach the Resistance as soon as possible?" The girl nodded and walked over to Neptune and handed him her handiwork. The cloak now closely resembled CPU Neptune's jacket, except that it was missing the blue stripes, zipper, pockets, usb straps and the "N" medallion on the zipper. Neptune happily threw it on and gave her a thumbs up. Love scratched her cheek, a tiny smile on her face and left the room with great agility.

"So what do we do?" Peace turned to Blanc.

"You will help me pack my things, while Nep-Nep," Neptune looked at the peach haired girl. "You will stand guard and wait for Lovey-Dovey to come back." The boy nodded and went upstairs to wait for the ninja girl.

* * *

Neptune sat in the main room of the house, sitting cross legged and eyes closed, his weapon lying across his lap. Peace came from downstairs and entered the room to see Neptune. She approached the boy and sat behind him, leaning on his back. The purplette opened his eyes and turned to see the peach haired girl.

"You need something?" Peace shook her head.

"Blanc can take care of it. I wanted ask you something," She held out the _La Magie de l'Histoire_ in her hands. "What is it?" Neptune took a deep breath.

"It's full name is the _La Magie de l'Histoire_ and was created by the Gramps, the elder of the village Blanc and I came from. Peace took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"_The Magic of History_." Neptune felt the girl's hair against his neck but said nothing about it.

"Well, it's basically a memento." Peace turned to look at Neptune. The boy stared straight ahead, not moving a muscle besides his mouth. "He used it to save us, and with his last words, asked us to complete it." Curious, Peaced flipped through the book. Many of the pages were empty. "During our travels, Blanc and I have been trying to learn as many spells as we can, inputting them into the book. However, it's obviously not easy." Neptune picked up his sword and held it up to the ceiling. "That spell I used to save Love, _Absolute Zero_, it is one of the few spells I can use. Blanc can use all of the ones we have perfectly, but he'd need to look at the spell in order to use them." He gripped the hilt of his blade tightly. "I don't think I fit to fulfill Gramps's wish." He felt Peace press against him lightly.

"Don't worry. Blanc seems to have more of an affinity for magic than you, that's all." Peace stood up. "I think Blanny's gonna need more help." She patted Neptune's head. "Stay sharp Nep-Nep." Peace left and Neptune closed his eyes once again, a smile on his face.

"Don't worry...huh? Alright then."

* * *

"Wow, I didn't know that Histy's real name was sooooo cool!" Compa raised her arms as she spoke. IF nodded her head.

"I had an inkling to what her real name meant, but I wasn't sure." IF crossed her arms, a smirk on her face.

"Histy's so adorable though! Who would have thought that her original purpose was to record magic spells and not history?" Arfoire pointed at the two.

"Remember, when she appeared to help you. She knew some pretty strong magic skills. Outright terrifying magic." The girls blinked, almost forgetting the details.

"Oh yeah."

"B-But, Histy is sooo cute!" Compa argued against the inevitable. Arfoire shrugged and returned to watching Neptune meditate.

* * *

Hours later, Love entered the house to see Neptune meditating on the ground. As soon as she stepped into the room, Neptune opened his eyes immediately, startling the girl.

"Be careful Nep!" The boy grabbed his blade, it slowly dissipating back into his wristband.

"Sorry Love. I just did what I was told to do." Love nodded, although hesitating a bit.

"Yeah. You know what to do alright. Anyways, where are Peace and Blanc?" Neptune tilted his head to the door behind him.

"They should be done packing. Come on, let's go." The two walked down the stairs into the underground bunker to see Peace sling Blanc's pack over her shoulder. Blanc placed the _La Magie de l'Histoire_ in a new backpack he was given. Peace turned to see Love and nodded to the girl. Love began her report.

"So, I made contact with the Resistance. We're going to meet them by following the river westward closer to the country of Macrosharp. By following the river we can head through the woods along the river and get rid of anyone tailing us." The remaining three nodded. "We should rendezvous with the Resistance by sundown if we go now." Blanc tossed Neptune a pack and the four climbed to the front door.

As Peace was about to open the door, Love pulled her back.

"Lovey-" Peace was silenced by Love's finger covering her lips. Love did the same with her own lips. She then motioned Blanc to look through the door.

Blanc slowly approached the door and peeked through the door frame. Despite the low visibility he was given, Blanc could see the light blue armor clear as day.

"Tari soldiers." Neptune tensed and held out his arm, but Blanc waved him off. "I'll take care of this." Blanc quickly opened his backpack and pulled out the _La Magie de l'Histoire_. He opened the book and flipped to a certain page. The elemental symbol on it showed a flame but only Blanc could see the title of spell without angling the book. Blanc looked to Neptune and mouthed to him. Neptune nodded and backed up. Blanc ushered Love and Peace aside and let Neptune ran to the door, kicking it off the door hinges and toward the soldiers nearby the door. The door hit two soldiers and missed the five to the right of them.

Blanc ran beside Neptune and began chanting the spell. The soldiers noticed what Blanc was doing and planned to take him down, if it wasn't for Neptune punching one in the face and Love using her nodachi to spread them farther apart from them. The tome in Blanc's hands began to shine a bright red.

"Back up." Neptune and Love immediately ran behind Blanc, who outstretched his hand. "_Fire Wave!_" The flames engulfed the soldiers, them spreading out in order to get the flames off of them. The four took the opportunity to run toward the front gate. As they ran past, Tari soldiers were chasing from behind them. Blanc casted the spell once again, this time on the ground. A wall of fire separated them from the soldiers and their group ran away.

"Nice Blanc!" Blanc gave a thumbs up to his brother.

"Thanks, I've been trying to cast a spell repeatedly with only one enchantment. I've also trying to memorize some chants so I can cast them instantly." Neptune raised his eyebrows.

"Well, that's conveniently useful." Blanc nodded and hastily placed the time into his bag as the four continued to the river.

As they followed the river, the sun was on the horizon. By the time they reached the woods, the sun was barely shining over the sky, giving the sky a bright orange and purplish color. The group ran through the forest and past a cliff side, over the edge revealed a very deep drop where a part of the river had branched over and could barely be seen with the light given.

* * *

Neptune pointed at the cliff side.

"Hey, I bet that someone's gonna get thrown off that cliff!" Noire opened her eyes in horror as Neptune proposed her claim.

"Why would you even say that!?" Neptune put her hands on her hips and stood tall.

"Well, with a cliff that huge. It would be impossible for an event flag to happen there!" As soon as Neptune shut her mouth, Peace let out a shriek. Arfoire looked away.

"**Arfoire...**" Histoire's voice resounded, attempting to console the woman.

* * *

Tari soldiers ran at the group from the trees. Blanc and Neptune acted quickly and stuck them down with their weapons. Blanc grinned as he saw his weapon dent one of the soldier's helmet. Neptune cut down another soldier and turned to the girls.

"Get out of here! It's an ambush!" Love blocked a sword with her qatar and threw a ninja star at the attacking enemy.

"What do you mean 'get out of here'?" Neptune looked at her with serious eyes, then he turned to Blanc.

"I'll hold them off! Blanc you and the others run!" Blanc shook his head.

"I'm not leaving you behind, idiot!" Neptune glared at Blanc.

"Aren't you the one who wants to see his dad! Blanc you shou-" Neptune stopped upon seeing Blanc's eyes and sighed. "Fine. But I'm not letting you die!" Blanc batted away soldier that tried to attack him from behind.

"I don't plan on letting you die either." Blanc turned to the girls. "You heard the guy. GO!" Love tried to convince them to go with her, but Peace grabbed her by the shoulder, shaking her head.

"...We'll be back with help. Count on it." Neptune and Blanc nodded and stood their ground, Love and Peace running westward.

The soldiers began to run at the boys in en masse. Neptune and Blanc fought them off, but were unable to stay in their position due to the huge amount of soldiers they had to face. The boys slowly backed up in order to gain some ground, eventually heading out to the cliffside. However, the soldiers stopped rushing Neptune and Blanc when they reached the cliff.

Neptune looked to Blanc, worried.

"Do you think we got all of them...or...did they start chasing the others?" Blanc shook his head.

"I hope not. They seemed intent on killing us, not them." The ground began to rumble and the sounds of heavy stomping sounded out through the woods.

"**Of course! You're our targets munchkin, not them!**" Blanc tensed up, he had heard that voice not too long ago. The trees from afar began to give way and when the closest trees fell over, Blanc's feeling was right.

Muoni burst from out of the woods, pointing at Blanc.

"You…" Blanc gripped onto his bo staff tightly. Muoni chuckled as he saw Blanc.

"Hey tiny kid! You've fallen right into our trap." Before Blanc could question him, Neptune had to jump aside to move out of the trajectory of a lightning bolt. Out of the woods, Centuro appeared, his hand covered in electricity. He pointed at Neptune.

"Young man, you resisted my magic with skill and talent." Neptune pointed to himself, then looked at Blanc. "I will commend you for doing so, but I will destroy you!" Neptune glared at the man.

"Destroy me? Ha! Don't make me laugh, I'm gonna kill you first!" Neptune swung his weapon in front of him. Centuro grinned and aimed his hand at Neptune, magic covering his palm.

"Well, let's see who's _right_!"


	13. White and Purple: Separation

Chapter 6: Separation

"Alright! Let's g-" Neptune stabbed his sword into the ground and pointed at the two monstrous men.

"Hold it!" Muoni looked at Neptune annoyed.

"What?" Neptune walked over to a low branch and took off his coat and backpack, hanging them on the branch.

"Gotta make sure my coat doesn't get dirty." Muoni stared at Neptune, but Centuro nodded in agreement and crossed his arms.

"Yes, that coat does look unique." Neptune grinned.

"I know right? My mother and friend both worked on it. It's precious to me." Blanc jabbed his bo staff into the ground, walked over to a low branch next to Neptune and slung it over the branch. Also, he took out the _La Magie de l'Histoire_ and returned to where his bo staff.

"I might as well drop this too." Muoni tapped his foot impatiently. Neptune returned to his sword and both boys picked up their weapons. Centuro uncrossed his arms.

"Are you both done?" The two nodded. Muoni raised his head in exasperation and crouched into a fighting stance.

"Enough talk. It's head smashing time!" Muoni jumped towards Blanc, his axe raised into the air.

* * *

"I bet that Other-Me and Other-Blanc are gonna win!" Once Neptune's words left her mouth, the rest of the party made bets as well. Arfoire facepalmed and Histoire sighed.

* * *

Blanc hopped aside, dodging Muoni's axe. Nearby, Neptune either slashed through or zipped past Centruo's magic. The minotaur look alike swung his axe across the ground and Blanc jumped, landing on the axe. He used the momentum that Muoni had created to get out of Muoni's range and drop kick Centuro, knocking the man sideways and allowing Neptune to charge Muoni.

Neptune jumped at Muoni and slashed at his head. Muoni countered by blocking the attack with his arms and used the same arm to push Neptune away with great force. He ignored the cut that Neptune left and ran towards Blanc and Centuro.

Centuro attempted to swat Blanc away with ice and fire magic, but Blanc batted them away by quickly spinning his bo staff. He ran under Centuro and swung his weapon at his legs, causing the enemy to fall on his behind as Blanc ran out of the way. When Centuro fell onto the ground, Muoni swung at Blanc once again. This time, Blanc, dropped _La Magie de l'Histoire_ onto the ground, eliciting a "**Hey!**" from the omniscient Histoire, grabbed his weapon with both of his hands and used the center of his weapon to block the attack.

The attack was stopped and Muoni was surprised as Blanc held his ground instead of being knocked aside. Muoni shook off his surprise and grinned widely.

"Well, what do you know? The munchkin can handle himself now." Blanc glared at him and continued the clash by pressing against the axe. Blanc's bo staff showed damage from the attack.

As Blanc and Muoni held their ground against each other, Neptune struggled to get close to Centuro as his spells caused him to move out of the way since there were too many projectiles for him to break through. Centuro laughed as he shot a lightning bolt at Neptune and the boy had to drop down on the ground in order to dodge it.

"What's the matter child? I thought you were good enough to be my equal, but I believe that I was wrong." Neptune growled at him and positioned himself to a sprinter's starting position and ran at Centuro as fast as he could while staying low to the ground. In retaliation, Centuro launched a fireball similar to the ones that Neptune busted through and blocked with spell "_Absolute Zero_".

Neptune pulled his arm back and swung his katana at full strength, breaking through the fireball just as he did before. As he ran out of the flames, Neptune saw another fireball coming straight for him. Neptune tried to swing his weapon again when a bolt of lightning blasted his weapon out of his hand. He turned to see Centuro grinning maniacally with his hand outstretched and slightly covered in electricity. Instead, Neptune tried to move out the way when he realized that his feet were stuck to the ground. He looked downwards to see thin yet sturdy ice surrounding his feet, preventing him from moving.

"Sorry child, no more force for you!" Neptune tried to cover his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself. Centuro laughed. "The only threat you have for me is your resistance to my magic, but it seems that magic has done you in after all!"

Blanc turned his head to see Neptune's situation, he shifted his weight and caused Muoni to slip aside and bring his axe into the ground. Immediately, Blanc picked up _La Magie de l'Histoire_ and opened it to a page with an ice element on the picture. Blanc held his hand out and shouted out the spell's name.

"_Absolute Zero!_" A pillar of ice protected Neptune in the same fashion that protected Love. Angered by being denied twice, Centuro glared at Blanc and pointed at him.

"**You!** How did you do that!?" Neptune recalled his weapon to his hand and smashed the ice with it and ran toward Centuro. He swung his weapon at Centuro and cut his leg. The enemy flinched as the purple haired boy ran past him. Blanc grinned as Muoni appeared behind him, axe held up high by both hands.

"Don't forget about me!" Blanc turned around to see Muoni and tried to use his bo staff to block the attack. Muoni knocked away his weapon and tried to strike again when Neptune appeared beside Muoni's head and dropped kicked him in the face, causing the man to stumble backwards. Blanc used this opportunity to flip to a wind elemental page and shouted out the spell.

"_Galeforce!_" A strong gust of wind blasted Muoni into the trees and could being carried far away by the sound of trees being crushed by his moving body. As Muoni was blasted away by Blanc's spell. Centuro clenched his fist and pointed at Blanc.

"You! How! You're just a child, it took years for me, a seasoned mage, to learn these spells, but you're using high level spells at such a young age. This is a ludicrous!" Centuro fired ice bolts at Blanc, and in retaliation Blanc's tome flipped to a fire page again and Blanc pointed his hand at the oncoming projectiles.

"_Pyre's Wrath!_" A wall of fire erupted from the ground in front of Blanc. The fire melted the tiny shards of sharp ice. However, Centuro noticed the tome in Blanc's hand.

"That tome! So that's how you've been able to cast such magic." Centuro sneered at the boys. Before Blanc could respond to him, Neptune appeared behind Centuro. He roundhouse kicked him and caused Centuro to stumble aside.

Neptune attempted to continue his attack on Centuro when Muoni burst out of the woods and punched Neptune away from his brother. Neptune flew into and knocked over Blanc, causing him to drop _La Magie de l'Histoire_. Muoni charged at the two, roaring at them. Blanc pushed Neptune to a standing position and the two rolled out of the way.

While Muoni continued his assault on the two boys, Centuro nonchalantly picked up the tome and flipped through the pages. Blanc realized that Centuro had the Elder's tome but couldn't attack him due to Muoni having picking up his weapon and swinging at the boy, forcing him to block the attack. Neptune attempted to attack Centuro but Muoni swung at the defending brunette like a golf ball and sending flying into Neptune. As Centuro flipped through the pages, his glare increased further and further.

"This tome… has so many spells, that not even many of the mages in the High Council can master." Centuro flipped one more page to see blank pages. "And it's not complete." Suddenly, the gem on the tome book began to shine and Centuro began to glow. "What is-?" Confused, Centuro did not notice the pages of the tome beginning to fill with light.

Neptune uppercutted Muoni into the air and Blanc swung his bo staff like a baseball bat, sending Muoni flying towards Centuro.

"Home Run!" Neptune, Compa and Ram began to do the wave. Vert was trying to feed Rom popcorn while Blanc wore a foam finger. Noire felt left out because she missed her chance at doing the wave and IF and Arfoire just sweatdropped.

Muoni flew into Centuro, causing the man to drop the tome and the book fell onto the ground facedown. Immediately, Blanc ran over to grab the tome and looked to see if there was any damage caused by the 'exchange'. When Blanc picked up the book, he noticed that some of the blank pages were filled with new spells. The enraged Muoni charged at Blanc, only to be intercepted by Neptune's sword. Blanc concentrated on the new spell chants.

"Neptune! Hold them off for a bit." Neptune nodded and continued to swing away at Muoni, preventing the bigger man from retaliating. Luckily for them, Centuro was knocked unconscious by Muoni's weight. Blanc flipped through the pages, his eyes scanning through the books with Neptune's speed.

* * *

"Blanny." The CPU of Lowee glared at the CPU of Leanbox. "How fast can you read a book?" Blanc was taken aback by the blonde's normal question that didn't include any form of mockery about her chest or attitude.

"It takes about three hours to read a book, thirty minutes if it's a really good one." Neptune's eyes bugged out upon hearing the rate of reading Blanc has. "Why are you asking?"

"Well, if you can read that fast, and I assume that we carried some of the traits from our originals. Then Origin-Blanc will have about the same reading time as y-"

* * *

"Memorized!" Blanc grinned. He nodded and held the tome confidently.

* * *

Vert dropped her arms.

"Well, that supports my theory." Noire put her hand to her chin, beginning to wonder what she inherited from her original. Neptune made a happy smile, thinking about what she gained from Past-Nep.

* * *

Blanc turned to see Muoni grab Neptune's leg from the air and toss him into the ground, causing a loud thump as he hit the ground. Blanc looked to see the picture of an ice element and shouted out the name of the spell. As this happened, Centuro woke up from his mini-coma.

"_Snowflake's Blizzard!_" Ice bolts flew out of Blanc's hand, shattering upon hitting his face. Centuro's eyes widened, not believing what he was seeing.

"My spell…" Centuro raised his hand, one of his unique spells, something he made personally, being used by someone else. Muoni struggled against the ice hitting his face and fell to the ground once more. "Brother!" Centuro launched another fireball at Neptune but Blanc flipped to another new page with a fire symbol on it and the same fireball that Centuro had threatened Neptune and Love with came out of Blanc's hand.

"_Burning Rage!_" Blanc's fireball canceled out Centuro's, causing the man to drop his hand in disbelief.

"I-Impossible!"

As Muoni tried to sit up, Neptune pressed his foot on Muoni's chest, sword raised into the air.

"This will end it!" Neptune swung his blade at Muoni's head, attempting to decapitate him.

* * *

"Oh yeah! Score one for the Origin Team!" Neptune raised her hands in the air, waving them like she didn't care. Blanc stood up and high fived Neptune. Vert gave Blanc a hug from behind and surprisingly, Blanc didn't mind. Rom and Ram clasped hands. IF raised her arm and cheered. Compa clapped her hands. Nepgear and Uni began roll cameras. Arfoire, on the other hand, looked away, eyes closed.

* * *

As Neptune attempted to finish off Muoni, a strong blast of wind came out of the woods and a strong force hit Neptune. The force was so strong that Neptune flew off the edge of the cliff and into the darkened abyss.

Blanc's eyes widened and his heart stopped upon hearing his brother's screams as he fell down the drop.

* * *

The group was now silent, shocked even. No one said a word, Neptune plopped onto the ground. Vert hugged Blanc tighter subconsciously, and Blanc allowed the reach for comfort. IF, Noire and Uni stared with wide eyes and Compa and Nepgear covered their eyes. Arfoire, feeling the pain the most, dropped her head, teeth and hands clenched.

* * *

"_**Neptune!**_" Blanc turned to see the new figure hovering over Muoni, lifting the fallen man up. He looked similar but differently than Centuro and Muoni, while Centuro had horse-like hair and Muoni had beast-like hair, the new man's hair seemed feather-like. But that didn't matter to Blanc right now. Uncharacteristically, anger coursed through Blanc's veins but he knew that it was useless. Before, he was in two versus two, but now it was one versus three battle. Blanc didn't care. He crouched, his teeth bared, ready to kill.

"_**I'm gonna kill you!**_" Against all odds, Blanc charged the three men. Avenging Neptune was now his top priority.

* * *

The group watched silently as Origin-Blanc began to fight hopelessly against the trio. Arfoire clenched her fist.

"Neptune..."


	14. White and Purple: White Father and Green

Chapter 7: White Father, White Son, Green Soldier and the Lost Purple.

"_**Neptune!**_" Muoni opened his eyes to not see the purple haired punk about to finish him off, but a familiar face.

"Brother Grofin!" The man named nodded to him and reached over to help him up.

"Brother Muoni, you've been getting into bad spots lately." Grofin turned to see their other brother, Centuro, hugging his knees and rock back and forth constantly. "What is wrong with Brother Centuro?" Before answering his brother, Muoni turned to look at Blanc, anticipating an attack. However, Blanc was staring down the abyss that Neptune had fallen in.

"What happened to the purple punk?" Grofin narrowed his eyes.

"Muoni, your tone of voice is not fitting for one of your status." Muoni rolled his eyes and Grofin sighed in response. "In order to save your behind, I blasted the purple haired child off the cliff. I doubt he will survive the fall." Muoni nodded.

"Alright, but Centuro is going through some trauma. Apparently that little munchkin," Muoni pointed to Blanc. "copied his _unique_ magic spells by grabbing a book." Grofin turned to Blanc, eyebrows raised.

"Book?" Grofin saw _La Magie de l'Histoire _in Blanc's hands and turned to Centuro.

"Brother Centuro," Centuro looked up to his brother and Grofin motioned to Blanc. "Shall we punish this child for taking away your pride?" Centuro grinned.

"We shall!" Centuro stood up, and the three turned to Blanc.

Blanc glared at the brothers menacingly. He crouched, his weapons ready, his eyes thirsting for blood and vengeance.

"_**I'm going to kill you!**_"

As Blanc ran at the trio, the scene turned to black. The group released a sigh, both in relief and disappointment.

* * *

Brushing off her shock, Neptune pouted.

"Aw, I wanted to see Other-Blanc avenge Other-Me!" Blanc sadly shook her head.

"Neptune, in every story there is a thing called: Suspense." Neptune made a puppy face, causing Noire to look away, covering her nose.

"But, Blanc…" Histoire's voice resounded around the group.

"**Do not worry about Blanc or Neptune.**" Vert looked up, searching for the tome to find nothing.

"Histoire, isn't that a little too harsh? After all, we basically just saw Origin-Neptune die." Arfoire shook her head.

"It's Neptune." The girls just looked at each other, but eventually trusted in the two ancients.

Once they had calmed down, the scene changed to the woods, revealing Love and Peace.

* * *

Love and Peace continued through the woods, leaving Neptune and Blanc behind. As they ran ahead, Love saw Tari soldiers rushing toward them. Grabbing Peace, Love dove into some bushes nearby. As they hid in the bushes, Love summoned her qatar, ready to protect Peace. The two poked their faces through the shrubbery and the soldiers rushed past them. Confused, Love and Peace stuck their heads out of the vegetation.

"What? Did they not notice us?" Peace nodded, her eyes darting back and forth.

"Lovey-Dovey, do you think that we're heading into a trap." Love shook her head. She continued deeper into the woods. Peace followed closely behind her.

* * *

"Um, is Ms. Peace acting differently?" Rom pondered aloud. Arfoire patted Lowee's Candidate on the head, impressed by her observation.

"Nice eyes, child." Arfoire looked at Peace, gripping onto Love's back tightly as they ran. "Peace is only herself when she's in a comfortable environment. Since she's not in any place that could be called comfortable, she gets all reserved and scared." A collective "Oh," came from the group, satisfied with her answer.

* * *

Suddenly, loud crashes could be heard from far away. Love turned around listened, her eyes pointed down the direction they had left Neptune and Blanc in.

"Lovey-" Peace saw her friend's eyes, the desperation and concern apparent.

"Peace, I'm-" The sounds of of bushes rustling came from beside them. Love pushed Peace behind her, qatar ready to strike.

"First Lieutenant of the Recon Unit, Love, is that you." Love lowered her guard, recognizing the voice.

* * *

The group recognized the voice as well. Everyone looked at each other.

"Hey doesn't that sound like…" Vert held on to Blanc tighter, the smaller girl becoming uncomfortable with the hug.

* * *

"Major Vert?" A blonde haired woman walked into everyone's view, causing Vert to hug Blanc even tighter and squeal. She had blue eyes, her long blonde hair had been tied up into a ponytail. She wore a forest green military uniform, except that she wore pants instead of a skirt. Also, she was slightly shorter than CPU Noire and, disturbingly, her chest was as big as IF's.

* * *

Vert somewhat frowned at the smaller chest that her original has, but she shook it off. Due to Origin-Vert's young age, she assumed that her counterpart still has time in order to grow in the right places. Noire on the other hand, pouted.

"Why does Vert get her counterpart before me?" Noire crossed her arms. "It's no fair! I was the second goddess to join Neptune's party. Not Vert! So why haven't I shown up yet." Vert shook her head, pressing her chin into Blanc's hair.

"My my, Noire. Did you forget? I was the third goddess to join the party, and here I am, the third of the Quartet to join. If you think of it, it made sense that _I _would appear now." Noire's frown deepened, but was immediately broken when Neptune glomped the girl from behind, snuggling into her back and causing the raven haired goddess to twitch and blush.

"It's okay, Nowa! Even if you're a super duper tsundere. I'll still love you!" Neptune's words hung in the air. Noire stopped moving, her eyes making a thousand yard stare. After a moment, Noire collapsed onto the ground. Neptune looked around confused, the girls around her, except Arfoire, were staring at the duo with blushing faces.

"Neptune… that was bold." Blanc, despite her red face, held up her notepad and began scribbling. Vert strengthened her grip on Blanc, pulling the girl closer to the blonde, inadvertently pressing her breasts onto the other girl. However, since the brunette was writing and focusing on something else, Blanc didn't seem to notice. Compa had stars in her eyes. Uni stared, slack jawed. Rom and Ram covered their mouths.

"Oh my goodness…" Nepgear was shocked, she didn't expect her sister to confess so early. After all, Neptune and Noire's Lily Rank was only at six!

"Nep…" IF grinned at the purple haired girl, giving her a thumbs up. Arfoire was crouched, holding back her laughter as she had known Neptune longer than most of the group, or for the CPUs, longer than their memory served.

Neptune was confused. She just wanted to show Noire that she saw the girl as one of her best friends. So why is are Noire and everyone else acting like this?

Above everyone, Histoire sighed.

* * *

Major Vert nodded and crossed her arms.

"Yes, you've done well, Lieutenant." Smiling, Love immediately dropped her smile and shoved Peace to Vert.

"Thank ma'am. Now I have to go." Catching Peace, Vert narrowed her eyes.

"Where do you think you're going, soldier?" Love stopped but didn't face Vert.

"Two new allies stayed behind as a decoy for Peace and I to get away. I have to help them." As soon as Love took a step forward, an arrow zipped past her and struck a tree. Love turned around to see Vert with her bow in her hands, arrow notched.

"I am sorry for your loss, but I cannot allow you to sacrifice yourself for two lost causes." Behind Vert and Peace, footsteps began to approach the girls.

"Vert, what are you talking about 'lost causes'?" Vert immediately dropped her tough facade and changed into a more idolizing one.

"General GC!" A man walked into the scene. He was an adult man and he looked like an older Blanc, except with softer eyes compared to the sharp eyed Blanc. Despite his thin stature, he had the aura of a battle hardened veteran. His light brown hair was cut neatly and he had a grin that could rival CPU Neptune's.

"General!" Love saluted to the man. GC waved her off and the girl relaxed. Peace looked back and forth between the conversation. Despite not knowing most of the Resistance's important figures due to cooping in her room due to working on inventions and such, she had Love to act as her massager anyways, she didn't need to know anyone, Peace assumed that this man was a prominent figure and one of the main leaders of the Resistance, alongside being a General.

GC noticed Peace's stare as she processed her assumption. He walked over to her and snapped his fingers, bringing her out of her thought process.

"Y-Yes!?" GC grinned at the girl's startle.

"You're Peace, right?" The girl nodded furiously. GC laughed heartily. "Calm down, I won't bite. I'll tease, but I won't bite." Uneasy about the teasing part, Peace willingly calmed down. GC smiled and turned to Love. "Love, you mind going into detail about what's going on?"

Love nodded and went into the story of how she was rescued by Neptune and Blanc. How they were originally hired to bring Peace's inventions to the Resistance. Blanc's confrontation with Muoni and Neptune's declaration of vengeance. Finally, she ended with how they were separated and how worried about their well being.

What caught GC's attention the most was the boys' upbringing. _That village, that was where Old Man Alpha took Dream, Cast and Advance…_ GC was slightly upset when he remembered his wife. He chose to split with the group in order for them to get as far as possible from Tari. GC was devastated when he received the letter that Advance had passed away giving birth to his son, he was lucky that Dream and Cast were there to take of him and their own son. _Come to think of it… Cast's letter said that my son's name was-_

"_**Neptune!**_" The group turned to the faint sound of Blanc roaring through the silent night sky.

"Blanc! Nep!" Love and Peace ran in the direction of the voice. When Vert turned to her commander, GC's eyes had turned dark and threatening.

"G-General!" GC turned to his suboordinate.

"Vert! Go and help out that person. This is an order." Without asking, the young woman nodded and ran after the two girls. GC felt his hands to see if his gauntlets were there and nodding to himself when they were in place. _My son...he's here._ GC ran after the girls, easily catching up to them. _I'm not losing you like I lost Advance._

GC easily overtook the girls and ran ahead, racing through any branches that had gotten in the way. As he got closer and closer, he could hear the Blanc's voice more clearly.

"_**I'm going to kill you!**_" Getting closer, GC could hear the sounds of magic and weapons clashing. He could also hear Blanc's grunts of pain, causing the man to run faster.

After running for about a couple minutes, GC dove into nearby bushes, having reached the cliffside. He peeked to see Blanc lying on the ground, his bo staff far from his reach and gripping the tome to his stomach. Centuro and Muoni walked over to the young man, kicking him around in an attempt to make Blanc release the tome.

When the girls arrived, Muoni had grabbed Blanc's head and lifted him up into air, squeezing his skull. They heard Blanc's groans of agony when GC rushed at them from behind. GC punched Muoni from the back of the head, causing him to drop Blanc and then GC roundhouse kicked the giant, sending into Centuro and past Grofin.

"**Stay away from my son!**" GC glared at the three his arm outstretched, showing them that they'd have to go past GC if they wanted to kill Blanc. Grofin raised his eyebrows.

* * *

"Yes! Team Origin is back for vengeance!" Neptune declared. Compa reached into her bag and brought out some homemade pudding and gave it to the girl. Neptune's eyes shined and immediately dug in. Compa rubbed the other girl's head.

"Nep-Nep, I know you're the 'Theme Breaker', but please let this one go." Neptune nodded and the group praised Compa for her quick thinking in keeping the tone of this battle serious.

* * *

"You're this child's father?" Muoni and Centuro stood up, annoyed at GC. Before the two get close to GC, Love appeared in front of Centuro, preventing him from having a chance at casting a spell. Muoni was pelted by arrows from Vert. Upon closer inspection, Grofin's eyes widened.

"You're with the Resistance!" As Grofin's realization came to him, Peace ran over to Blanc, checking the boy's vitals. Despite all the damage that was done to him, Blanc kept an iron grip on _La Magie de l'Histoire_ and stared at GC in awe.

"Father…" GC turned to Blanc and gave him a thumbs up. In response, Blanc teared up, happy that he finally united with his father after searching for a long time.

* * *

"Woah. Now that they next to each other. Old Man GC looks so much like both Blancs. I bet that if he was still alive, he could pass off as Blanc's dad!" Neptune proclaimed. Blanc just stared at the girl. Vert seemed impressed.

"Although I don't have any preference for men, I must say. Origin-Blanc's father is quite handsome." Blanc and Noire looked at Vert, suprised.

"W-Wait, did you just technically say that Blanc is attractive, by saying that her original's father, who looks exactly like Past-Blanc and our Blanc, is handsome!?" IF sweatdropped, for Noire, that was a pretty far reach. Vert just gave off a mischievous smile.

"Oh? Did I?" Vert proceeded to pull Blanc farther into the hug. The CPU of Lowee was still processing what Vert said, to react to her hugs. Arfoire, on the other hand, put her hand on her forehead.

"Oh, the _irony_!" Compa looked at the woman confused, but shook it off and returned to listening to the chaos that is Vert's abstract suggestions.

* * *

Peace shook Blanc gently in order to get his attention, her worry beginning to escalate. While Blanc had looked in awe of his father, Peace looked around, finding no sign of Neptune aside from his backpack and coat that were neatly hung on a low tree branch.

"Blanc, where's Nep-Nep?" Immediately, Blanc's eyes were downcast. He slowly pointed to the dark drop that was under the cliffside. Peace's eyes widened, she shook her head. Neptune had…

"_Retreat!_" Grofin and his brothers ran away, since their fight with Neptune and Blanc had weakened Centuro and Muoni. He couldn't let his brothers die here. However, Centuro stood his ground and shot "_Burning Rage_" at an unsuspecting Vert.

The girl closed her eyes as she wasn't able to get out of the way when the fireball stopped right in front of her. She opened her eyes to see Blanc holding the ball with his bo staff, GC used this opportunity to punch the spell and canceled out the spell. Growling, Centuro turned around the retreated.

Once the men had left, GC walked over to his son.

"Kid, you alright?" GC patted Blanc's head affectionately.

"Father…" Blanc looked at the ground. Peace explained to GC why Blanc was upset. Vert stayed away giving the four some privacy and Love sat on the edge of the woods, bashing herself for not being fast enough to save Neptune. Peace left Blanc to GC and went to cheer up Love. GC put his hand to his chin, thinking as he kept an eye on Blanc.

_Neptune, so I'm guessing that he's Dream and Cast's kid, and so he was thrown off the cliff by that guy named Grofin._ GC watched his son limp over to where the two boys had left their things and placed the tome into his bag and slung his bag over his shoulder, ignoring the pain the accompanied the weight touching his injured body. Gingerly, he picked up Neptune's coat and walked over the cliffside.

The moon had risen some time after Neptune had fallen off the cliff. Blanc stared at the moon, only looking away when GC placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Blanc, Neptune's your brother right?" Blanc nodded. "Heh, that means he's Cast's kid. If I know Cast, then he passed on his sturdiness to his kid. Neptune'll be fine." Blanc stared at his father.

"Are you sure?" GC gave him a thumbs up and a pat on the head, rubbing his head affectionately. Smiling softly, Blanc turned to the moon once again. This time, he wrapped Neptune's cloak around his neck, but not putting on the sleeves, making it more like a cape.

Blanc reached out to the moon as Vert picked up Neptune's things, looking through them and being surprised at all of the medical herbs and supplies he had inside.

"He was...very prepared." Blanc grinned sadly.

"Yeah he was…" Blanc slapped himself in the face. "And he always will be." GC called over to Blanc saying that they have to move soon. Blanc looked at the moon one last time.

"Neptune. I know you're out there. Since you know where to go, I don't think I'll have to look for you… I hope. Anyways, I'll keep your cloak safe and when I see you again, I'll make sure it's in perfect condition when I return it." Blanc turned around, departing into the woods. Once Blanc was hidden in the trees, the party was covered in a bright light.

* * *

The girls were on Planeptune's balcony once more. Histoire was with them again, sleeping in Arfoire's hands.

"Aw, it's over! But I wanna see what happens to Past-Me!" Blanc agreed with Neptune, finally breaking herself out of Vert's hug. Vert was excited, she was apart of the story now and she couldn't wait for Historie to unveil her part in the plot.

"Neptune, be patient. Who know's maybe you'll meet them soon." With that message, Arfoire left to Histoire. Confused, the girls discussed what Arfoire meant. As they were talking, Blanc fell into Vert's arms, causing the tall blonde to giggle.

"Oh my, Blanc. Have you fallen for my chest after all this time?" IF tried to hide the fact that Lady Vert was giving most of her attention to Blanc, but Compa patted her on the head. When Blanc didn't retort, yell or struggle, Vert began to worry. She lifted Blanc's face to see the girl in a deep sleep. Vert shook the smaller girl, but she didn't respond.

"Hey Vert, is sis going to be okay?"

"Is,.. she alright?" Rom and Ram had every right to be worried. Blanc was fine all day, and her shares were at a decent state. She shouldn't have collapsed, even if she spent three nights working on her novel. Suddenly, Noire and Nepgear's voice rang out in surprise.

"Neptune!" The purple haired CPU of Planeptune had fallen unconcious as well and would not wake up. Like Blanc, Neptune was full of energy and would not have collapsed so suddenly.

The girls looked at each other and took the two into the Basilicom, fearing the worst.

**To be continued in…**

**Volume Three: Green and White**


	15. Intermission Three: Inside Purple

Intermission Three: Inside Purple

The girls had brought Neptune and Blanc into Planeptune's Basilicom and placed them in Neptune's bed. As they laid Neptune and Blanc onto the bed, Arfoire had placed Histoire onto the nightstand next to Neptune's bed, except that Arfoire had moved aside all the snacks and games and cleaned desk. The rest of the group hovered over the girls, worried.

Neptune was sleeping peacefully. However, Blanc was squirming about, making a pained face. Vert turned to Rom and Ram.

"Girls, does Blanc have trouble sleeping?" Both girls shook their head, terribly concerned for their older sister.

"No...Blanc usually sleeps… fine." Ram nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! She even hugs us when we have bad dreams!" The pink clad brunette claimed with her arms in the air. Vert giggled at Blanc's sisters. Meanwhile, Noire and Nepgear checked over Neptune.

The CPU of Planeptune snuggled into the pillow and yanked the blanket away from Blanc. The CPU of Lowee, shivered a bit, but Compa draped another blanket over Blanc. Arfoire placed her hand over the sleeping girls and sighed in relief.

"It's okay, they've just collapsed." The group also let out a sigh of relief. IF then approached the silver haired woman.

"Is there something wrong with them?" Arfoire shook her head.

"No." Arfoire then pushed them out of the room. "Just wait outside, I'll watch over them. You girls have some fun or do something else." Once the girls left, Arfoire walked over to the sleeping three. She stroked Neptune's hair gently and smiled softly.

"Boys, please. Don't overexert yourselves and rest a little longer.

* * *

Neptune walked around in the darkness. She looked left and right frantically.

"Uh, I feel like I've been through this before." She put her hands on her hips and contemplated. "Like before I met Compa and lost my memory." Neptune continued walking, searching for something that would help her.

"**Hey.**" Suddenly, a masculine voice spoke from behind Neptune. The girl spun around, surprised. When she turned, all she saw darkness. "**Smart one, get over here.**" Neptune took a step forward and hesitated. "**Hurry up.**" Neptune looked toward the audience.

"Everyone, is it me, or is this non-Histy's voice really needy?" The voice grunted.

"**Just take a step further.**" Neptune complied with the voice. Suddenly, the darkness began to filled with color. The ground became white metal and Planeptune's Basilicom rose up from behind her.

"Wait a second, why am I at the Basilicom's entrance?" When she took a longer look at the Basilicom, the building was still under construction. The part of the building where her room would be wasn't even close to being made.

"**Of course, it isn't close to making your place. Your home wasn't made until years later.**" Neptune removed her gaze from the Basilicom and turned to see someone very familiar. After all, she had been watching parts of his life.

The boy was now an adult, being drastically taller than Neptune. He wore the exact same jacket as Neptune, except that he kept the jacket unzipped. Under his jacket, he wore a dark blue version on Neptune's undershirt and white pants. His lavender hair was messier than Neptune's, as if that he never cared to fix his hair after waking up. He had a headset around his neck that looked similarly to Neptune's d-pad headclips. His purple eyes were sharper than Neptune's.

In front of Neptune was the original Neptune. Neptune stared slack jawed at her original. Origin-Neptune turned to the Basilicom. His unwavering eyes looked at the sky.

"So, uh, Other-Me." Origin-Neptune looked at his CPU counterpart. "Why are you here? Didn't the legends say that the Quartet died upon defeating the Original Goddess?" Neptune clicked his tongue.

"Neptune," Origin-Neptune scratched the side of his head. "Fun Fact: Not all legends are true. Some of them are either rumors or exaggerations." Neptune tilted her head, confused. Origin-Neptune sighed. "Are you really this kind of stupid? Here, let me just put it bluntly." Neptune's counterpart stared at her dead in the eye.

* * *

Arfoire heard the door knock.

"Come in." IF opened the door and allowed Compa in before stepping in herself. The two sat on chairs beside Arfoire. "IF and Compa, do you need something?" IF nodded and made sure to keep the curtains closed.

"I have something to ask about Nep and Blanc." Arfoire looked at the girls, suddenly serious.

"What is it?" IF nodded at Compa and began to speak.

"Well, Miss Arfoire. Ge-Ge told me that Nep-Nep was acting strange after we saw the first part of Origin-Nep-Nep and Origin-Blanc's story." Arfoire nodded.

"Continue." IF took over for Compa.

"Well, after thinking for a bit. We believe that Neptune and Blanc have some sort of connection to the story besides an origin story." Arfoire smiled. She stood over the sleeping girls and looked over to Histoire.

"As always, you two are very close to Neptune. However," Arfoire turned to Neptune and Blanc. "Histoire and I were particularly close to the original Neptune. In fact, there is another reason besides telling you what really happened at the time." Arfoire turned to IF and Compa, her eyes pleading and desperate. "Don't tell Noire, Vert or anyone else. The time is not right." The two girls looked at each other, then to Arfoire.

"What is it? What's wrong with Nep and Lady Blanc?" Arfoire gripped her arm with her other hand, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Well... "

* * *

"Unlike Noire and Vert, Blanc and I share the same bodies with you and the your Blanc." Neptune was beyond surprised. Her mind was so blown that she stared at the original Neptune with blank eyes. Origin-Neptune paid her no mind and turned back to the Basilicom. "However, I may be able to talk to you. Blanc, on the other hand…" Origin-Neptune trailed off and shook his head. "Let's just say that my brother isn't as conscious as me." Neptune raised her eyebrows.

"So wait, what happened to Other-Noire and Other-Vert?" Origin-Neptune's cold stare caught her off guard, but didn't expect him make such a sorrowful look.

"Let's just say, they're somewhere far away, but you've been there at least twice, starting from before you met Compa." Neptune narrowed her eyes.

"That was cryptic." Neptune saw her counterpart shake his head and turn his head toward to her.

"I didn't wake up for a question and answer session." Neptune threw up her hands.

"Wait, wait, wait." Her original groaned.

"What now."

"Why did you wake up instead of dying?" Origin-Neptune's eye twitched.

"What did I jus- Were you even listening to me!?" Neptune shook her head. Her counterpart facepalmed. "Fine. I'll answer this last question."

* * *

"What? You wanted to wake up the originals?" Arfoire nodded.  
"Well, not awaken, but put to rest." The silver haired woman walked over to Neptune, stroking her hair affectionately. "These two have worked so hard, but were unable to pass on. Because after stopping the Original Goddess, the CPUs were not ready to lead Gamindustri initially. Both of them were chosen to become the first CPUs and protect the world until the goddesses you know now today were ready." Arfoire shook her head. "Before I lost myself, Histoire and I agonized over the fact that we couldn't save them and we wanted nothing but to set them free and let them rest in peace. But the problem was…"

* * *

"You and I are one in the same, so if I die, then you die. The only difference is that your soul would become one with the Sharicite of Planeptune and I would disappear." Neptune listened carefully, something she never usually did. "In fact, I should have technically died when you lost your memory. Since I was being your subconscious advisor, and when you lost your memory, I had no grip over you and drifted away. Then when Histoire asked you if you wanted your memory back," The purple haired boy turned to the girl with a glare. "You said _no_."

Neptune rubbed her head apologetically, but the other Neptune waved it off.

"That's not what I called you here for." Origin-Neptune walked a few paces away from Neptune and turned to face her. "You purified Arfoire, correct?" The girl nodded. "That strength that saved Gamindustri…" The boy raised his right arm, allowing Neptune to see the white wristband Peace had given her. "_Show it to me!_" The katana that Origin-Neptune wielded, his father's blade, appeared in his hand. He then pointed the sword at Neptune.

"A fight, huh?" Neptune made a cocky smile. "Well then, you better be careful, because you're messin with the CPU of Planeptune." Neptune summoned the _Holy Fang Blade_ and held with both hands. "Get ready, because I'm gonna Nep your face!"

Neptune crouched, spread her arms like wings and rushed her counterpart.

"Not letting you go easy, _Cross Combo!_" She swung to the left, then back, using the momentum to swing again while spinning in a circle. Neptune swung to the left once more, and brought her blade back, this time swinging upwards and jumping into the air, slashing downwards to knock her opponent on the ground.

However, Origin-Neptune blocked all of her strikes, their blades clashing. He jumped upwards to dodge her upward strike and vanished upon Neptune's downward finisher.

"Whoa, what! How did I miss? I reached the level cap already!" Neptune landed on the ground, only to hear a sound of someone rushing her from behind.

"I'll slice you into pieces, _Cross Combo!_" Neptune turned around to block the first sword strike, but was surprised to see her opponent with his hand on the ground. Origin-Neptune spun on the ground, kicking Neptune off her feet. Quickly getting on his feet, he backflipped a bit away and began his assault, slashing at Neptune in the exact same manner as before. This time when the upward strike came, he uppercutted Neptune with his free hand and gave her a series of spin kicks in the air before executing the downward finisher.

Neptune landed on the ground reeling from the pain. Frowning that her attack had been repelled and thrown back at her, the girl raised her hand into the air.

"I'm gonna win, _32-bit Mega Blade!_" A giant light blue sword appeared in the air, and Neptune pointed at her counterpart. The blade flew at the other Neptune with accelerating speed. Her original, however, did not budge.

Origin-Neptune pulled his arm back, took a step forward and with all his might, swung his blade as soon as the giant sword was close enough, destroying the attack. Neptune stepped back in surprise.

"You didn't even let it finish! No fair, cheater, meanie, overpowered boss!" Ignoring her, Origin-Neptune pointed his blade at her, his mouth a straight line.

"I won't lose, _Critical Edge!_" While Neptune was spouting insults at her opponent with her eyes closed, Origin-Neptune ran at her. Once in range, he swung downwards, causing Neptune to flinch, and then upwards, sending her flying. As Neptune fell back to the ground, Origin-Neptune moved his arm across his chest and, once Neptune was at the appropriate height, dashed with instantaneous speed and slashed through Neptune. Neptune fell to her knees, pain coursing through her body.

Neptune turned to her counterpart, gritting her teeth.

"Now that was foul play!" Shaking off her annoyance, Neptune made a 'V' with her index and middle finger, pulled her arm back and rushed at Origin-Neptune. "_Victory Slash!_" She made an 'X' with her slashes, causing her counterpart to stay flinched and when she stopped moving. The area around him blew up. Origin-Neptune fell to one of his knees.

"That was unexpected." Neptune made a fist pump.

"Alright, now let's get him while he's down." As Origin-Neptune stood up, Neptune raised her blade to the sky. "Gonna use my special!" Neptune activated her EX skill, _Neptune Break_, and rushed at the opponent. She swung, however, Origin-Neptune vanished. "Wha-" Suddenly, Neptune felt pressure on the back of her head.

"Too slow!" Origin-Neptune yanked the girl by the head, causing her to fly out of her hands. He spun around and roughly threw onto the ground. As Neptune tried to sit up, Origin-Neptune stomped next to her arm and raised his weapon into the air. The girl closed her eyes.

"Noooooo! I'm the main character, I can't die like this!"

* * *

"Miss Arfoire, are you saying that there's something wrong with Nep-Nep and Lady Blanc!?" Compa interrupted the woman, tears starting to spill from her eyes. Arfoire smiled at her innocence, took out her handkerchief and wiped away Compa's tears.

"No, you got it all wrong girl." Arfoire placed a hand over heart. "I want to help Neptune and Blanc at least see what their hard work has done for the world, after that I want to apologize for failing to keep my promise of protecting Gamindustri with Histoire." A quiet "oh" came from Compa and IF patted the peach haired girl on the back.

* * *

Neptune kept her eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable to come. It didn't and she sat there for a moment until her original's voice called out to her.

"Hey, _main character_, open your eyes." Neptune slowly opened her eyes to see her counterpart holding his hand out to her, a grin on her face. "There we go. And- hup!" With a quick pull, Neptune was pulled up the ground, over her original's shoulder and given a piggyback ride.

"Woah! How did you even do that?" Origin-Neptune shrugged.

"Meh." Neptune narrowed her eyes.

"Wait a Nepping second, you were just about to kill me, and now you're giving me a piggyback ride. What's going on?" Origin-Neptune sighed.

"Like I said, I wanted to test your strength." He moved his arms so that he could carry Neptune more efficiently. "Come on, I got a favor to ask you." He began walking to the Basilicom.

"What is it, oh brotherly original of mine?" Origin-Neptune rolled his eyes.

"You don't need to do much, but it's better to ask now." He deposited Neptune and turned around. "I'm going to need your body." At this statement, Neptune covered herself, fake blushing. "No, you idiot. I mean I'm going to take over for a bit." Dropping her tease, Neptune asked why. "To be honest, I need to confirm one, well two, things: The CPUs named Noire and Vert. Are they able to protect Gamindustri when the time is right?" Neptune nodded.

"Of course, they're like, my bestest buddies in the whole world, especially Nowa! They'll be fine." Origin-Neptune shook his head.

"Not until I figure it out myself. So please, will you do this for me?" After hesitating, Neptune nodded. Her original smiled. "Thanks, but I really need to do this." Suddenly, Neptune realised something.

"Wait, you said Noire and Vert only. What about Blanc?"

"Oh, her? She's fine. I tested her long ago, she passed already." The area began to turn pitch black again.

"Huh, Other-Me?"

"**Crap. Don't worry, Neptune. I'm just getting tired. I've been out of commission for some time, I'm still weak. Anyways, I'll let you know when the time is right. For now, just wake up and have some fun for me will you?**" Neptune nodded and gave a thumbs up. She could hear her original's laugh. "**Good. Well, I'll see you later.**" With that, Neptune fell asleep once more.

* * *

"Arfoire?" The silver haired woman turned to the brown haired Guild agent.

"Yes?" IF pointed to Neptune, there was a smile on her face, despite Blanc moving over the bed and occasionally nudging and kicking her.

"She must be having a good dream." Arfoire smiled. If only the Neptune she knew could smile that often, however, it wasn't common due to his life's problems. Instead, Arfoire indulged herself in this Neptune's smile as she slept.

"Yes, she must be. We should let them rest." The other two nodded and left the room.

* * *

Some time after the three left the room, Blanc sat up. Her face was covered in sweat and she clutched her chest tightly. She turned to the sleeping Neptune, sighing in relief that it the female version and not the original male verison. Blanc let her head touch her knees and fought back the tears that dared to spill out her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry…"


	16. Intermission Four: Inside White

Intermission Four: Inside White

As the door closed, Blanc sat up. Her face was covered in sweat and she clutched her chest tightly. She turned to the sleeping Neptune, sighing in relief that it the female version and not the original male version. Blanc let her head touch her knees and fought back the tears that dared to spill out her eyes.

The memories came rushing back to her.

* * *

_She first opened her eyes, data and streams of circuitry flew around the dark area. She looked around and behind her was a bright white gem, shaped in the form of a power symbol._

"_Hello, Blanc." At first she didn't move, unaware of her name. That is, until a tiny tome fairy floating into her point of view. "Blanc." The tome fairy reached out to her. The girl, confused, pointed to herself._

"_Blanc? Is... that my... name?" The personification of the tome nodded. The girl then pointed to the tiny girl. "Who... are you?" The fairy stared at her, her eyes as blank as a fresh sheet of paper._

"_My name is Histoire. I am the tome that records the history of Gamindustri." Most people would realize what her name meant at hearing it for the first time, but the child before her stared at her in awe._

"_Histoire." Both girls turned to see a silver haired woman that would become the bane of Gamindustri until the CPU of Planeptune would rescue her. Arfoire walked over to look at the girl, then to Histoire._

"_Lady Arfoire." The woman narrowed her eyes and shook her head._

"_No, Histoire. It's Arfoire. No 'Lady'." Histoire just stared at the woman with empty eyes._

"_I am sorry, but under the order of the Original Goddess, I am to address all of my superiors with the required respect." Arfoire sighed._

"_Nevermind, I take it that the transfiguration was a success?" She turned to the smaller girl, who scooted away in fear. Arfoire made a soft smile and crouched to the girl's level. "Don't worry little goddess. I'm not here to help you." She reached out her hand to the girl. Slowly, the girl hesitantly held the woman's hand. The woman helped the girl to stand up. However, when she stood up, the girl stumbled over and was caught by Arfoire. The girl looked up to the woman, her eyes shining in wonder._

"_You...called me a… goddess." Arfoire nodded._

"_Yes, you are Blanc. The CPU of Lowee, the first of four daughters of the Original Goddess." Only the first four words made sense to the girl. The rest of the words flew over her head._

"_CPU...Lowee...Original…" The girl tilted her head, confused. Arfoire giggled at her innocence. However, her smile slowly dropped, remembering what this girl have to go through. The two stayed like this for a moment until an unseen door on the right of them opened._

_A teenage boy ran into the room, he wore a white jacket with purple trims and a light blue stripes on the arms and a blue zipper. He wore white pants and wore a dark blue shirt with light green stripes under his opened jacket. He had lavender hair and sharp purple eyes. He was panting from running, sweat rolling down his neck._

"_**Blanc!**_" _The young man looked around the room frantically. "__**I heard from Love, you're awake!**_" _Turning to see the woman, fairy and girl, the purplette's arms dropped to his sides. He stared at the young girl in particular. The young man pointed at her with a shaking arm. "Y-You…" Arfoire stood in front of the girl, her arms outstretched._

"_Neptune, calm down." The young man's eyes began to turn fierce. His face began to scare the girl.  
_"_**Calm down. Calm down! Who is that girl and why does she look exactly like my best friend!**_" _Histoire floated to Neptune, staring him dead in the eye._

"_Lord Purple Knight. This child is the transfiguration of Lord White Knight. She will be a proxy to the Original Goddess and the CPU of Lowee." Neptune stepped back, his anger becoming more and more prominent._

"_**Transfiguration!?**_" _He shook his fist angrily. "__**What did you do to him? Where is Blanc!?**_" _The girl shyly took a step forward._

"_Y-Yes?" Neptune snapped at the girl._

"_**Not you!**_" _The girl stepped back, completely afraid of the teenager. Arfoire shook her head and pulled the girl behind her._

"_Neptune, this girl will protect Gamindustri for centuries. Something neither you nor Blanc could do." Neptune's anger faded at the woman's logic and looked down at the ground. The teenager growled but turned away with a sigh._

"_Fine. Do what you want." The boy turned around and left the room. Before exiting the room, the boy smashed the wall nearby the door. The girl flinched as the young man's actions and turned to the older woman._

"_W-Who was that?" Arfoire patted the terrified girl in the head, in an attempt to calm her down._

"_Someone the person you once was used to know." Due to the heavily cryptic structure of Arfoire's description of Neptune, the girl at the time had no idea what she meant._

* * *

Blanc gripped her hair tightly, gritting her teeth.

"Yeah. I know now."

* * *

_Blanc swung her hammer down into the ground, not used to how heavy it was. Panting, she looked around, she was in the snowy land of Lowee. After her confrontation with Neptune, he constantly taunted and insulted her whenever he came over from the land southward of hers._

_As she picked up her hammer, she felt the annoying presence once again._

"_What do you want?" Blanc turned toward left and saw Neptune walking towards her. He stopped a few feet away from her, seeing her hard at work. Due to her ability as a Goddess, the cold didn't affect her as much. However, the purple haired boy would always come over in the same clothes, unaffected by the temperature of the country._

"_Training?" Blanc stared at him, with a "Duh." look. Neptune nodded and turned away. "It looks like you won't get any farther than you are now." The CPU of Lowee stared at him with confusion._

_Suddenly, a roar came from behind Blanc and she was knocked toward Neptune by a plaid tail. Neptune turned around to see a big red plaid dolphin floating in the sky. Blanc sat up, her eyes widening._

"_No! A monster!" Blanc stood up, looking behind her and to the monster in front of her frantically. "What should I do? Should I fight it, or should I warn the peo-" A cry of pain erupted as turned to the plaid monster. Neptune stood between her and the monster, the opponent falling to the ground, its body sliced into pieces. In his hand, Neptune held a katana. With a flash of light, the weapon disappeared._

"_You see. You hesitated." Neptune turned to Blanc. "What would have happened if this was real crisis instead of just an encounter with a monster?" Blanc took a step back, unsure of what to say._

"_I-I…" The goddess struggled to find the words. The young man chuckled and walked over to her, dropping a hand on her shoulder. Blanc tensed up at the contact and saw a brotherly smile from one of the people that hated her the most._

"_Let's fix that." He turned the stunned girl around and led her back to the city. "Tomorrow, I'm going to train your reflexes and judgements." As the boy led her, Blanc was so confused and surprised, she didn't know what to do._

* * *

"And from there, we got closer and closer. He was nice to me and we had fun training. It was there he told me to take hits since I was too slow to dodge most attacks, and it worked. I was able to become the Tank of the CPUs."

* * *

_Blanc fell onto the ground, exhausted from today's training. Neptune passed a bottle of water, and the girl happily took it._

"_Say, Master Nept-" The teen pressed his finger to her lips._

"_No. No "Master", just Neptune." The girl looked hurt at these words._

"_B-But, I wanna call you that…" Neptune inched away from Blanc's puppy eyes. When she didn't stop, he faltered._

"_Alright, alright," Blanc' s eyes shined. "But on one condition: You can't call me 'Master', but you can call me "Big Bro'." Blanc looked at Neptune as if he grew seven heads and then seven separate bodies._

"_Why?" Neptune scratched the back of his head._

"_I don't really like being superior to anyone. I just wanna stand beside them, either as friends or as family." Neptune then smiled at Blanc. "And to me, you're that little sister I never had." Suddenly, Blanc's face turned sorrowful._

"_That's because I used to be your brother isn't it?" Neptune's eyes flickered to show sadness, but that immediately was shoved aside. He placed an arm around Blanc's shoulders… and commenced noggie her without mercy. "O-Ow! S-Stop that!" Blanc struggled to break free from her captor's grip and suddenly Neptune stood up and flung Blanc over his neck so that Blanc was given a piggyback ride. "Whoa!" Neptune started walking._

"_Blanc, I may still have lingering feelings about my brother. But that Blanc was my brother, and my best friend. You, on the other hand, are a different Blanc. If I wanted to continue to protect this world, I have to accept that fact, no matter how painful it is." As Neptune spoke his heart out, Blanc nuzzled her head into Neptune's neck._

"_So that means?"_

"_It means that I see you as someone else, not my brother, not anymore. You're my sister, now and always will be." Blanc was touched by Neptune's claim and allowed him to carry her back home._

* * *

"From then on, I began to treat the original Neptune as my brother." Blanc raised her head. "And I had hoped that it would always be like this."

* * *

_Neptune began to walk into the border of Lastation, to continue back home to Planeptune when Blanc ran up to him._

"_Big Bro!" Blanc hunched over to catch her breath. Neptune turned around to see the CPU of Lowee._

"_Blanc, what is it?" Blanc straightened up, tears filling her eyes._

"_You can't go yet! I have so much to learn!" Neptune shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders gingerly._

"_Blanc…" He smiled at the girl. "I have to go. My people need a leader." Blanc shook her head._

"_You can't go!"_

"_Blanc. I'm sorry." He watched as the girl let her tears fall to the ground. An idea popped into his head, Neptune lightly touched his forehead with hers. "Blanc, promise me this." Blanc stopped crying for a moment. "Blanc, I want you to lead this country. Protect it. And when I'm done protecting my country, I'll come back to see you okay?" Blanc tearfully nodded her head and Neptune smiled, removing his arms._

"_I will. I promise Big Bro!" Neptune gave her a thumbs up and turned around. The teen passed the border and he turned to wave at the girl. The CPU of Lowee tearfully waved at the boy and the memory faded away._

"I didn't see him until sometime later."

_Blanc had been asked by General GC to move head to Celestia. She moved through the heavenly country, to eventually find Neptune on the ground._

"_Big Bro!" As she approached Neptune, she saw injuries caused from magic and bullets. Without waiting, Blanc raised her hand over Neptune's body. A light shined over Neptune and the wounds began to heal. Once all the wounds healed, Neptune began to stand up. Blanc grabbed Neptune by the shoulders and held him worried._

"_Where…" Neptune looked around to see Blanc. He smiled for a moment, until his face contorted into one of horror. "Noire! Vert!" Neptune stood up immediately and ran as fast as he could. Blanc followed him to find a wilted tree and three women in front of it. Neptune summoned his weapon and stopped in front of the women._

"_Neptune?" A teenage girl with long black hair turned around, however her face could not be seen from Blanc's point of view. Another woman who long silver hair and blue framed glasses turned to the two behind her._

"_Noire! Vert! Rei! Stop this now!" Neptune swung his arm in order to emphasize his point._

_The third girl, with a long blonde ponytail, smiled at Neptune._

"_Sir Neptune, it is already too late…" A light shined around the three and Neptune ran at the women in desperation. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot from beside Blanc and struck Neptune on the back, causing him to fall on the ground once again._

_Blanc turned around to see Arfoire with her staff in her hand, the other hand outstretched. _

"_Arfoire!?" The silver haired woman looked away and Histoire appeared beside her._

"_Neptune, I am sorry. But this is required in order to protect the Original Goddess." Neptune stared ahead in desperation. Blanc tried to run toward her brother but was stopped by Arfoire's magic, pinning her down._

"_**NO! Don't do it! NOIRE! VERT!**_" _The light from the tree began to shine brighter and brighter, engulfing the three women._

"_...I'm sorry… Neptune… I will… always…" The voice of the raven haired girl vanished as the light faded. Once the light was completely gone, the tree was standing tall and healthy, but the women were gone. Neptune let his face fall onto the ground, fighting back his anger and sadness._

"_Noire… Vert… Rei…" Neptune sat up, his tears waterfalling down his face. He looked up to the sky and screamed at the top of his lungs. "__**WHY!? WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME? WHY DOES EVERYTHING I LOVE GET DESTROYED!**_" _Neptune began punching the ground with his full strength. Arfoire waited for Neptune to punch longer and then casted a sleeping spell on Neptune, causing the teen to fall asleep. She then turned to Blanc and casted the same spell over the CPU and Blanc's perspective began to fade._

* * *

After that event, Blanc had apparently fallen asleep for so long due to the effects of Arfoire's spell and the fact that she wasn't as resistant to magic as she was now. Some time after waking up, Neptune had found the traitor that caused Blanc's predicament. He assaulted the man and avenged his brother.

"And after that… He disappeared. Big Bro vanished." Blanc hunched over once again, her tears flowing off of her face. "And then, I met the other Neptune and I was so obsessed with defeating the newest CPU that my memories of Big Bro disappeared." Blanc gripped her legs close to her arms.

"I-I'm sorry…" She had failed him. Although she did make Lowee prosperous, she failed to wait for her brother to come home. She was asleep for such a long time, she missed her brother's final battle. "I'm sorry, Big Bro…" Blanc cried silently, letting her tears fall onto the blanket.


	17. Intermission Five: Purple's Advice

Intermission Five: Purple's Advice

It had been three hours since Histoire, Neptune and Blanc had fallen unconscious and the CPU of Lowee was the first to awaken. Blanc entered the CPU's living room in Planeptune's Basilicom. Her little sisters and the others were playing video games. Rom and Ram were sitting in front of the t.v. in order to get the most out their gaming experience. Uni was playing alongside them, trying her best not to be double teamed by the twins. Vert had already reached first place and was waiting for the others to finish. Compa, Noire, and IF were watching them play. Nepgear and Arfoire were carrying snacks and drinks when the CPU Candidate of Planeptune noticed Lowee's CPU.

"Ah, Blanc! You're awake!" Immediately, Rom and Ram dropped their controllers, allowing the CPU Candidate of Lastation to reach second place unopposed. The twins grabbed onto their sister's arms and brought her over to the couch.

"Sis, come watch us play!" Rom nodded enthusiastically.

"Play." Blanc smiled. As she saw her sisters' smile, Origin-Neptune's face flashed in her eyes, reminding the CPU of her previous occupation as a little sister. Blanc's smile immediately dropped, her eyes downcast. Compa noticed this.

"Lady Blanc, are you okay?" Lowee's CPU shook her head and smiled, trying to dissuade the peach haired Maker.

"I'm fine…" Blanc looked away, but before the nurse-in-training could press further, a loud yet satisfied yawn came from the direction of Neptune's bedroom. Both of the remaining sleeping people had entered the room. Neptune's hair was as little messy but Histoire was behind her, combing her hair.

"Neptune, you need to freshen up whenever you wake up." Neptune grinned as Histoire finished untangling the girl's hair.

"Aw, thanks Histy. You're like a mother." Histoire raised her eyebrows. "Well, I did _raise_ you and the other three CPUs along with Arfoire." Arfoire nodded her head.

"Yes, she may be motherly now, but back then she had trouble smiling." Everyone turned to see the tome's face fluster.

"Wha- Arfoire, why are you bringing that up now?" Arfoire chuckled her non-evil laugh.

"I just wanted to let everyone know that they weren't the one only ones who grew up too. Histoire had so much trouble keeping you girls in line, I was afraid what would have happened if I had lost myself to the Original Goddess's power earlier." Histoire began to shake, her face turning redder and redder. Arfoire laughed some more then turned everyone's attention away from the tome for a bit to let her cool down. "Ha~. Alright, are you kids ready to see what happens next?" Everyone cheered and as Neptune finished her cheer, she faltered and her mind began to turn hazy.

* * *

_**Neptune. **_The CPU of Planeptune closed her eyes.

_Whoa, is that other me?_ The voice spoke once again.

_**Yes. I need you to do me a favor.**_

_Ooooh. The hidden protagonist is beginning to move._ The voice sighed.

_**Just let me meddle for just a second.**_ The girl nodded slowly and kept her eyes closed. **_THanks, I promise I won't take long._**

* * *

After the cheering died down, Neptune opened her mouth once more.

"**No.**" Neptune walked over to the door that led to the balcony. She looked over to Arfoire, Histoire and Blanc. "Can you three come with me for a bit?" After realizing that Neptune wasn't acting herself, the CPU attempted to make puppy dog eyes. "Pwease?" Hesitantly, the three walked outside and when the others tried to go with them. Neptune snapped her fingers and the doors that led to the balcony shut.

"What in the?" Noire stepped back. Vert put her hand on her cheek.

"Neptune was acting strange, wasn't she?" The Candidates nodded their heads. Nepgear looked at IF and Compa.

"Miss IF, Miss Compa, did Miss Arfoire say anything to you when you went to check on Neptune and Blanc?" IF looked at the nurse, worried. Compa them smiled.

"Don't worry girls, it's Nep-Nep. Everything will be just fine!" Compa's voice seemed to satisfy the group, sort of. Hesitantly, the group returned to playing the game that been ignored after Neptune had awoken.

IF turned to the closed door, her eyes narrowing.

"What could be going on over there?" IF's thoughts were interrupted by Noire's gasp at ending up at last place and IF let the worry slide, despite it nagging her constantly. She decided to trust in whatever Neptune was doing, or thought she was doing.

* * *

"Neptune, is there something wrong? I mean, you were just cheering just as second ago." Neptune turned to the three, her eyes suddenly darker and sharper.

"Blanc. Just shut up for a bit will you?" The other girls were shocked at Neptune's change of tone. Annoyed at how Neptune was acting, Blanc summoned her Hero's Hammer.

"Hey. I'm just asking a question here." Neptune stared at the brunette, her sharp eyes unflinching.

"Didn't I just say to shut up?" Blanc's eyes were covered in a shadow and one gleamed red. Despite this intimidation, Neptune seemed unfazed by the glare, in fact she seemed as if this was a daily occurrence to her, as she sighed and scratched her head.

"_HUH? I was just __**worried**_ _but is that how you're going to be?_" Blanc ran at the other girl, her weapon high in the air. Neptune, with speed she's only ever shown in her _Neptune Break_, appeared in front of Blanc and swung her feet from under the CPU of Lowee, knocking her off her feet. Neptune stood up immediately and grabbed the hammer as Blanc fell, yanking it out of her grip.

The other two were astonished at Neptune's actions. Neptune had successfully disarmed another CPU without even needing her weapon. Blanc stared at the purplette in surprise as she examined the hammer.

"Huh, so you had it reforged?" Neptune began to spin the weapon in her hands skillfully, only to plant into the floor without much trouble.

"There's no way…" Blanc's eyes were wide. There's only one person who could beat her down without actually hurting her, but he vanished. Didn't he? Even if he didn't vanish, he would have passed away since he was Neptune's… The CPU of Lowee froze in realization.

"What's wrong Blanc?" Neptune raised her eyebrows, waiting for Blanc to answer. When the girl didn't respond, she turned to Arfoire and Histoire. "Well, if you're not gonna say anything after all this time, then I better say what I have to say while I still have the chance." She walked over to the other two girls. Histoire was confused, was Neptune always this abstract? However, Arfoire had her eyes glued to the girl once she began to examine Blanc's hammer. The silver haired woman pointed at the CPU.

"Neptune…" The CPU looked at the woman. "Is that you?" Neptune nodded but Histoire looked at Arfoire even more confused.

"Arfoire, I don't understand. There's only one Neptune…" Histoire gasped. Neptune sighed, his dark eyes showing relief and he began to grin at the women, his hand on his hip.

"Took you long enough." Neptune turned to Blanc once again and patted her on the head. "Nice try by the way. You've gotten a lot better since I last saw you." Before Blanc could say anything, Neptune turned his attention to the other two. "Oh yeah, I don't want you to show the next parts of _our_ story here in this country. Head north from here, to the place where _they_ became closer. It will certainly help _him_ out and make things a little easier for you." Neptune smiled at Blanc one last time before closing his eyes, and the soft purple eyes that she was used to seeing had returned.

* * *

**_Hey, thanks. _**Inside her head, Neptune gave her counterpart a thumbs up.

* * *

The purplette looked around, seeing Blanc on the ground and the other two women slack-jawed.

"Uh, did the other me…?" The two nodded. "Oh, well what'd I miss?"

"We were told to head north. To Lowee." Neptune nodded and ran over to where the door was closed and reopened it.

"Gotcha girls. Hey everyone! We're going on a field trip to the super snowy land of Lowee." The cheers of Rom and Ram could be heard as Neptune announced the change of plans. The two astonished women regained themselves and headed to Planeptune's officials to see if they can to Lowee as soon as possible. Neptune had given them a lead and they certainly didn't wanted to waste it.

* * *

Vert walked over to the balcony to see Blanc staring straight ahead. Worried, she ran over to her small friend and shook her to get her attention. When Blanc turned to look at Vert, the CPU of Leanbox was surprised to see tears running down her face.

"B-Blanc!? What happened?" Blanc sniffled and hugged the girl suddenly, startling her.

"Vert. I saw him…" Vert looked around, seeing no male in sight.

"Him? There is no one here besides us." Blanc looked up, her tears becoming mini-waterfalls.

"My...Big Bro...I saw him! He's okay! He's-" Blanc shoved her head into Vert's chest, crying openly. Vert looked through the doorway to see Neptune glomp Noire from behind and IF trying to pry the purplette off the CPU of Lastation while Lastation's CPU Candidate tried to save her older sister from the purple haired hugger.

"What happened here?" Vert hugged the smaller girl as she cried her heart out, ignoring that her shirt was getting wet. All she could do now was comfort the hurting, she thought Blanc was hurting at least, CPU and wait for her to finish crying.


	18. Green and White: Resistance

Green and White

Chapter 1: Resistance

Once the preparations for the trip to Lowee were made, everyones' trips made express by Blanc. The group reached the Land of White Serenity from the Land of Purple Progress in three hours. From there, Financier greeted the party at the Basilicom, having been informed of the current ongoings of the CPUs by IF. Blanc's chamberlain led the party into Blanc's personal reading area. It was a classic winter-esque study, with warm colored rugs and walls, a stone fireplace decorated with drawings that the twins made (aside from the ones that were drawn in her books) and covering the walls were shelves of books that varied from novels to doujins (and stowed away in a small corner were the books Rom and Ram drew in, if people knew that Blanc had kept them, she would never live it down). In the middle of the room, in front of the fireplace, were two couches and a large table that despite being completely out of place, was homely and was refreshing against the warm room with its cool colors.

Here, Financier prepared beverages and snacks for everyone.

* * *

As everyone settled down, Neptune could hear her counterpart's voice once again.

**Hey, where are we? **Neptune began to smile as she placed a spoonful of pudding into her mouth.

_We're in Lowee's Basilicom. Pretty cozy am I right?_ A grunt was made and suddenly a more curious noise was made.

**I understand what the CPUs look like, but those four…** Despite not knowing the direction Origin-Neptune was looking, Neptune somehow found her glance upon the CPU Candidates. **Why do they look so familiar?**

_Oh them? They're the CPU Candidates of Lowee, Lastation and yours truly._ A sound of confusion. _They were born when we had so many shares that the Sharcite couldn't take it and KABOOM! We got adorable little sisters._

**Hmm. Candidates, huh? The world has changed a lot after I lost consciousness, this could be interesting. **Neptune grinned, her spoon moving in her mouth. Although the girl could hear all her counterpart's thoughts, she could barely hear the voice's mumblings, but she decided to let the words slide and instead continued onto the topic of the Candidates.

_I know right!? They're so cute! Especially, Nepgear! Her shy but hardworking nature is so relieving to me and Histoire!_ The voice inside Neptune's head scoffed.

**I wonder why.**

* * *

As Neptune and Origin-Neptune had their little banter, Blanc noticed the random changes of Neptune's face and remembered that her big bro was alive and well.

"Neptune." The purplette turned to the smaller brunette.

"Yes, oh fellow goddess?" Blanc pointed to Neptune's forehead.

"You're talking to big bro right?" The side conversation died down as the topic of Origin-Neptune and the person being asked the question nodded.

"Yup, yup, yup. Just finished telling him how adorable our sisters are!" Blanc made a tiny exhale and inhale and approached the purplette.

Vert watched, concerned. She had been there when Blanc had broken down, happy to see her 'big bro'. She had never seen Blanc cry, aside from when she begged Neptune and Vert to help her free Lowee from Arfoire's grip. The blonde grew wary of the brunette's obsession with her brother but stayed in the sidelines, hoping for the best.

"Neptune, can I talk to him?" Neptune blinked and smiled.

"Of course, Blanc. Lemme just ask him." Neptune closed her eyes, focusing on seeing her counterpart.

When Origin-Neptune appeared in Neptune's mind, he had his arms crossed and his back to Neptune's point of view.

* * *

_Well, whaddya say? _Origin-Neptune turned around, his eyes stern and cold. He walked over to Neptune and grabbed her face. Closing his fingers to cover Neptune's vision, her counterpart answered and her sight was covered in bright light.

**No, the time isn't right yet.** Neptune opened her eyes, surprised that her vision was ended.

* * *

"What do you mean 'No'!" Neptune frowned at the roof as Blanc moved back, clearly hurt. Neptune closed her eyes and attempted to envision Origin-Neptune once again, and the boy was seen with a frown on his face. "Your friend wants to speak with you! How could you deny her?"

* * *

**Neptune. I can't. If I do, then Blanc will be in danger.**

* * *

"What does that even mean?" Neptune now stood up, her hands clenched on her sides.

* * *

**Sorry if I'm confusing you. It's just that this part of the past is crucial to Blanc's reawakening. My role in the next event is one of the many factors that will bring him back. When I lost Blanc, he was worried about my safety, as I was his. However, his mind was lost during a battle and he doesn't know what happened after that battle, except thinking he died. I'm afraid that if I talk to Blanc now, the Blanc that I grew up with will pass on, knowing that I'm alright. **Neptune was slowly convinced by her counterpart's explanation, but her emotions wouldn't back down, not yet.

* * *

"But! What about _our_ _Blanc_!" In order to emphasize her point, Neptune pointed her arms at Blanc.

* * *

**You just won't give up. *sigh* I guess I'm partly to blame for that trait. Fine. Tell Blanc this: I will speak to her, just wait. I promise her. **The voice in Neptune's head began to fade. **Damn, no..t...ag...ain… 'm...ry… **Origin-Neptune's voice began to disappear and no matter how hard Neptune tried, she couldn't get his voice to come to her head.

* * *

Her head dropping, she turned to a hopeful and tearful CPU of Lowee.

"Blanc," Neptune braced herself. "Other-Me said he couldn't because…" Blanc inched closer to the reincarnation of her big brother. "Because the next part of the story is more important than talking. Sorry, Blanc." Blanc dropped her head, her hat falling onto the ground.

"It's okay Neptune, thanks…" Dejected, Blanc walked over to where she sat on the couch, took her placed and curled up into a ball whilst lying down. However, she wasn't looking when she sat down.

"Oh my!" Vert raised her arms into the air, surprised at becoming a chair/bed for Blanc. When she heard Blanc holding back a sniffle, Vert slowly stroked Blanc's head and Blanc pressed into Vert's body for a sense of comfort. Rom and Ram looked to each other and approached their sister, but Vert placed a finger to her lips and waved the girls off. "Your sister will be fine. She's just hurt a little that's all." The twins looked at each other once again and to Blanc. After some more convincing from Vert, and eventually Uni and Nepgear, the twin CPU Candidates of Lowee left their big sister to the CPU of Leanbox and waited for her to calm down.

Sometime later, Blanc had finished crying and sat, not even noticing that she was on Vert's lap. The CPU of Leanbox placed a hand on top of her head, asking if she was okay. The smaller girl nodded and nuzzled into the girl's hand.

"B-Blanc?" Blanc turned around and stared straight into her eyes. After a moment, she broke eye contact and plopped herself onto Vert, releasing a sigh. Vert, uncomfortable with the sudden contact, tried to gently pull Blanc off of, but the wrapped her arms around Vert and tightened her grip.

"Just for a bit." Upon hearing the quiet but pleading tone in the girls voice, Vert let Blanc be, comforting her by returning the hug and placing her chin on top of Blanc's head. Later, the smaller girl shifted off the larger girl's lap, but kept her arms around Vert.

Rom and Ram turned towards Nepgear and Uni.

"Miss Nepgear...what is Big Sister doing?" Nepgear and Uni were at a loss. Arfoire pushed her way into the conversation.

"Well, let's look at it this way: Your sister, Blanc, had an older brother, the original Neptune. However, let's say he disappears one day and never returns." The Candidates looked on, waiting for Arfoire's hypothetical situation. "Centuries later, she gets two younger sisters. How do you think she feels?" Ram put her hand on her cheek.

"She was very happy when we met." Arfoire smiled and raised a finger.

"Exactly. She lost a brother and gained some sisters. But, since it was a long time, her memories of the past were obscured and replaced with happier memories... Now she remembers those lost memories. Add the fact that her brother is alive in one of her friends who can talk to him almost freely." Arfoire let the words hang in the air for a bit before continuing. "How would you girls feel if you lost Blanc one day, had younger sisters and centuries later, Blanc returned in someone else's body?" Rom and Ram looked at each other, the dots connecting in their heads.

"We'd be happy!" Arfoire nodded but held up her finger once more.

"_But_," In order to emphasize the word, Arfoire paused. "What if Blanc couldn't or wouldn't speak to you?" The twins now looked hurt and shook their heads.

"No! That's too mean! Origin-Nep is horrible!" Ram voiced the twins' feelings while the quieter twin nodded alongside her.

"Horrible…" Arfoire chuckled as the two began to bash on Origin-Neptune. Arfoire then turned to Vert and Blanc.

"Since her original brotherly figure doesn't want her to be around, she instinctively went over to another sibling-like figure that would be able to comfort her." The silver haired woman smirked as Vert's eyes turned into stars. She slowly looked down onto Blanc, her hands and arms twitching. Blanc, however, was oblivious due to her face being buried in the girl's side.

"M-Me? An ol-old-older sister to B-Blanc!?" Vert was about the hug the smaller girl in joy when Arfoire spoke up.

"Well, that's how it would normally work, but for you and Blanc in particular, it's a very special reason." Vert turned to the silver haired woman. "Yeah, she doesn't see you as a sibling. Sorry." Vert's eyes began to flare up. She attempted to stand up, but was held down by Blanc. Instead, she hugged the smaller girl protectively.

"Preposterous! Do you not _see_ what is happening right here? I demand that you show us your evidence for your fruitless claim!" Vert let go of Blanc and pointed at Arfoire. The adoptive mother to the CPUs just smirked and shook her head.

"If we saw this part of the past, then you'd see my evidence."

Noire stared at the spectacle and looked towards Neptune.

"Anyways, did your past self say anything other than that?" Neptune nodded and Blanc slowly looked over to the other two goddesses.

"Yeah! He said that once this over, he'd talk to Blanc." Blanc's eyes shined, held Vert tighter and turned to Histoire.

"_**Well, don't just sit there like a retard! Hurry up and start!" **_Startled by the sudden outburst, Historie complied and began to shine brightly. As the light shined, the door behind them opened and closed immediately.

"Sorry, I'm late!" The bright light and sounds masked the newcomer's face and voice so the girl just ran over to a chair and got ready to watch the show.

* * *

After leaving the cliffside where Neptune fell, the group had followed the river, passed the borders into Macrosharp. When they had crossed the borders, the sun was slowly rising into the they continued into Macrosharp, Blanc still showed signs of irritability. GC noticed this behavior and got his son's attention.

"Blanc." The boy looked up see his father hovering over his face. The man smiled and pointed ahead. The land around him was a bright and healthy green with long rolling pastures and the occasional trees. "Welcome to Marcosharp, the country of green pastures and home to Tari's Resistance." Blanc continued walking.

"Dad?"

"Yes?" GC's son looked at him straight in the eye.

"Why is the Resistance's main base in Macrosharp?" GC straightened his back and puffed out his chest.

"You see, it _would _make sense if Tari's Resistance is in Tari. However, we are _rebels_ and it more strategic if we moved out of the country to make allies with other parts of the world and allow us to retake our country." Raising his eyebrows, Blanc seemed impressed with his father's thought process. Vert crossed her arms, a smirk on her face.

"Yes, Marcosharp is an excellent choice to have an ally in." Blanc looked at the girl indifferently.

"I didn't ask you." Vert whipped her head at Blanc, her eyes twitching.

"_Excuse me?_" Blanc narrowed his eyes.

"You heard me." Growling at the boy, Vert only stepped back when GC bopped Blanc on the head.

"Blanc, that's no way to speak to a lady." Blanc grunted and the man patted his son on the head. Vert closed her eyes and turned away from the brown haired boy. Love and Peace looked at each other, rightfully concerned.

"Lovey-Dovey, Blanny's taking this hard isn't he?" The girl nodded in response.

"It's difficult not to. I mean, I probably would be acting the same way." Peace looked toward the angered boy. Blanc was now glaring at the horizon and gripped Neptune's cloak tightly.

"Blanny?" The boy turned to the peach haired inventor.

"What." Peace flinched at her friend giving her the cold shoulder.

"Blanc," Blanc's glare now turned to Love, but Love faced the boy with a serious face. "I understand what you're going through, but we can't dwell on that right n-" Blanc stepped closer to the girl, the blood thirst revealed in his eyes.

"**NO YOU DON'T!**" Love stood firm as Blanc snapped at her.

"Blanc!" GC's son turned to face his father. GC grabbed Blanc by the shoulders and shook his roughly. "I understand that you're angry, but unleashing your hatred now won't change anything. We _will_ avenge Neptune!" Although his anger wasn't completely defused, Blanc fizzed out a bit and was able to regain his composure.

"...Fine." Blanc stared at the ground, the new object apparently worth venting his anger at. GC sighed and turned to Vert and the others.

"Sorry about that." Vert shook her head.

"It is fine, General. We must continue now." The young blonde soldier continued onwards and the rest of the group followed. Love and Peace attempted to talk to Blanc, but the boy stayed silent. Eventually, the boy began to open up once again, only talking to the two girls that he started his new journey with and also his father. Vert did not attempt to talk to Blanc and would speed up her pace if Blanc would get close.

* * *

"Uh… is it me or is Origin-Vert not friendly with Origin-Blanc." Arfoire nodded at Compa's observation.

"Yeah, those two didn't get along, at first." She looked to see the incarnations of the boy and girl, the boy's incarnation still hugging the girl's incarnation. Then, Arfoire smiled. "You should have seen them at their finest."

* * *

After the short argument, the group continued onwards to the captial of Macrosharp, Maschief. In the center of the town was a castle and the party went straight towards the castle. As they moved closer to the castle, Blanc looked around. The people of the town were running about, chatting and going on their own businesses. However, the boy noticed something very strange.

"Father?"

"Yes?" Blanc looked around again to make sure he wasn't seeing illusions, but still saw the same thing.

"Why are there _no men_ here?" GC scratched his head, looking at his son with an awkward smile.

"Uh...well, you see." GC looked over to Vert, who stepped a little closer. Who upon finding the person asking the question being Blanc, stepped back farther from where she stood, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"Macrosharp is a country predominantly female. There are males here, but they are very scarce." Suddenly, the woman around the group began to see GC and Blanc and they slowly inched closer to them. "So, men in the capital are a rarity and the citizens see-"

"Oh, it's General GC!" A woman's voice interrupted Vert and the group looked to see women surrounding them. GC backed away and Blanc became the main attraction. "Who's this young one? He looks similar to GC!"

"Gah!" The citizens pulled Blanc away from the group and began to poke and prod him. Not used to being touched apart from fighting, Blanc struggled to free himself from the mob's grip.

"Wow! He's so cute! Can he really be a boy?" At this point, the women were pressing themselves against Blanc. The poor boy raised his arms into the air in a vain attempt to ask for help. Blanc tried to scream, but the women's' squeals and chatter drowned him out.

The girls watched to the poor boy get smothered. Love turned to GC.

"General GC, can you help you- General!?" GC, like his son, was surrounded by the Macran citizens. The man threw his arms into the air, his head barely visible as women began to grab onto him.

"Help! I'm a married man!" Love and Peace tried to free the two, but they were shoved away by the mobs. Eventually, GC was able to free himself from his fans and walked over to where the three were waiting. "Ugh." The man straightened his clothes. "I hate that part. Anyways," GC looked around. "Where's Blanc?" The group turned to where Blanc was and they couldn't even see him under the mass of women.

Vert sighed and walked over to the mob that was basically molesting Blanc. After waiting a couple seconds, Vert made two sharp claps.

The chatter died down immediately and all attention turned to Vert.

"Excuse me." The women were startled by Vert's appearance.

"Major Vert! What does the military need?" The citizens were happy to see Vert. The girl cleared her throat.

"Fellow citizens of Maschief, I ask that you release the young man in your possession." The crowd moved away a little to reveal Blanc, his hair was mess and Neptune's jacket ruffled up. Vert moved her way into the crowd and gripped Blanc's jacket. Immediately, Blanc smacked Vert's hand off of the jacket.

"Don't touch this!" Blanc immediately stood up and attempted to remove the creases on the jacket by pulling it. In an instant, the crowd dispersed and moved to the sides, making a circle around the two. An anger vein appeared on Vert's face and the girl leaned closer to the boy.

"_What did you just say?_" Blanc crossed his arms and glared at the girl.

"**Don't. Touch. The jacket.**" Vert's eyes were covered in shadows as the girl made a suspicious smile.

"And what is wrong with touching such a dull piece of clothing?" This time the anger vein appeared on Blanc's forehead and the boy took a step closer to Vert, their faces practically touching.

"This jacket belongs to my brother, you know that! I want to keep this memento as perfect as possible." Vert raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Or is that piece of cloth just a reminder of how you failed to keep your comrade alive?" Blanc's eye twitched.

"I couldn't do anything about that and you know it!" Blanc clenched his fists and put his arms at his sides. Vert turned around and crossed her arms.

"Hmph, it doesn't matter. I was just asked by the General to retrieve you. That's all." Vert walked over to the group and left Blanc to grab his hair and scream in frustration. After screaming and frightening many of the women in the area, Blanc returned to the group.

* * *

"Oh my, it seems that bad blood is boiling over between the Original Blanc and I." Vert tightened the hug around Blanc. "But we're as close as two peas in a pod, right Blanc?" However, Blanc stared at the scene ahead of her. "Blanc?" When Vert looked at her friend, she noticed that her friend was spacing out. Gingerly, Vert shook the smaller girl, snapping the girl out of her stupor.

"Huh?" Worried, Vert asked if Blanc was okay. "Oh, I fine… I think." Blanc placed her head on Vert's side. _What's happening to me? I feel like...something's rising out of me…_

* * *

After the fiasco that was the citizens of Maschief, the group reached the front of the castle. GC raised his arms into the air, a big grin on his face.

"You three, say hello to the Resistance Base!" Peace waved her hand at the stone walls.

"Hi Resistance Base." Vert, Blanc and Love stared at the absentminded inventor.

"Is she always like that?" Blanc pointed at Peace. Love shrugged her shoulders.

"Eh, you gotta live with people." Blanc returned his gaze to the castle.

"Anyways, is this _really _the Resistance Base?" Vert narrowed her eyes and turned to Blanc.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Blanc stared the girl with blank eyes.

"Well, this is a _resistance_. So I expected it to be _underground_ or something like that." Vert frowned at Blanc and pointed at him.

"You!" Blanc placed his hands on his waist.

"What?"

"First, you insult my country by _mocking_ it as an ally. Next, you snap me when I attempt to _help_ you. Finally, you speak _ill_ of the capital's castle!" Vert threw her hands into air, her arms shaking. "You have insulted me and my country for the last time you failure of a man!" Blanc reacted to the last few words of Vert's rant.

"_Failure!_" Blanc now glared at the girl. At this point, GC had ushered Love and Peace away from the two. "What do you mean failure!?" Vert jabbed a finger at Blanc's chest.

"You know what I am talking about. You and your inability to save your 'brother'." Vert's anger pushed Blanc over the edge.

"You…" Blanc's fist shook and he raised his arm. He swung at Vert but the girl jumped backwards. "You're dead!" Vert shook her head and armed herself with her bow that was strapped to her back.

"No, idiot." She pointed a finger at Blanc as he summoned his bo staff and then he threw his bag aside after taking _La Magie de l'Histoire_. "You shall fall! I challenge you to a duel!" Blanc made a mocking grin.

"Ha! I'm gonna kick your ass!"


	19. Green and White: Duel!

Chapter 2: Duel! Green vs. White!

Blanc and Vert stood far apart from each other, the wind passing by. Vert had notched an arrow and aimed it at Blanc. The boy stood still, anticipating the attack. GC, Love and Peace stood on the sidelines, waiting for one of them to strike.

* * *

Meanwhile with the present incarnations, Neptune stood up, cupping her hands over her mouth.

"Takin' bets here! Place your bets over the one you want to win! Either Origin-Blanc or Origin-Vert, take your pic-" Noire grabbed Neptune by the arm and pulled her onto the seat beside her.

"Don't. You. Dare!" Neptune made puppy eyes at the black haired girl.

"But, Nowa~!" Noire frowned at the purplette.

"Don't call me Nowa! And no bets! It's starting to get annoying!" Neptune intensified her puppy eyes but Noire sat firm by keeping her eyes focused and crossing her arms. After a minute, Neptune gave up and pouted.

"Aww, fine." Letting out a sigh, Noire reached over to the snack table and grabbed an egg custard pudding cup. She slowly waved it in front of Neptune.

"Here. Take this for being a good girl." The purple haired girl's eyes shined when the sweet treat appeared in front of her face. Unknowingly letting drool drip out of her mouth, Neptune opened her mouth wide. She slowly reached over to the cup but hesitated in grabbing it. Turning to see Noire nod her head, Neptune happily took the cup and opened it, grabbing a plastic spoon from the table and digging in.

IF gave Noire a thumbs up and the girl smiled in response.

"No! I cannot accept this!" Vert's voice came out of nowhere and the two turned to the CPU of Leanbox. Vert pulled the smaller CPU, Blanc, into a tighter hug, the other girl showing slight discomfort from it but adjusted to it. "Blanc and I would never get into such a horrible disagreement like this!" Blanc looked up to the taller girl.

"Vert. We were fighting nonstop for centuries." Vert began stroking the smaller CPU's hair, causing Blanc to cover her eyes as the hair moved past her eyes.

"Ssh. That was just a little disagreement, Blanc. It was never as horrible as that fight we are about to watch."  
IF narrowed her eyes as she saw this.

"Yeah, sure Lady Vert. You made fun of Lady Blanc's chest size and teased her for trying to convince one of Avenir's men to let them see Noire by pretending to be his 'little sister'." Compa looked at IF with her large pink eyes.

"Iffy, you sound jealous." The Guild agent whipped her head toward the nurse, her face turning red.

"Wha-!? N-No! I'm not jealous!" IF crossed her arms to make an 'X' and Compa leaned toward her friend.

"You suuuuure?" IF shook her head vigorously. Compa moved away from IF and smiled. "Okie dokie then." Compa turned toward the fight scene. IF sighed in relief. However, Vert wasn't convinced and released Blanc and moved over to her favorite Maker.

"Iffy, are you sure you weren't lonely?" Surprised at the sudden question, IF tried to deny her lone jealousy but Vert saw through her thin facade. The CPU of Leanbox smiled and inched closer to IF. "Oh, don't be like that. If you wanted some affection, then just say so." Vert wrapped her arms around IF, paralyzing the girl.

"Wha-Wha-Wha! L-Lady V-Vert!" Compa watched as IF blushed redder than her Demon Flames attack.

"Come, Compa. Let us show Iffy that we care about her." Compa's lips curved into a smile and wrapped her arms around IF as well.

"C-Compa!" The girl whose name was called out snuggled her friend.

"Yay! Huggies!" The two girls tightened their hugs around IF, leaving the girl in the middle of the hug stuttering.

Blanc, from where Vert had left her, watched as IF attempted to break free from her two busty friends but melt into their hugs. Suddenly, Rom and Ram appeared on both sides of the CPU of Lowee and enveloped them in their own hug.

"?" The twins hugged Blanc with all of their might. Rom even closed her eyes. "Ram? Rom? What are you doing?" Ram looked up to her older sister.

"We're comforting you!" Rom nodded into Blanc's side.

"Comfort…" As Blanc watched her twin sisters adorably attempt to make her feel better, another memory of her big bro flashed through her mind. Although she couldn't hear anything, she saw herself crying in the exact same room they were sitting, although it was empty compared to now and Origin-Neptune crouched in front of her. He patted the girl on the head and Blanc looked up, tears in her eyes. Blanc pounced into Origin-Neptune's lap and the young man embraced her, letting her cry her eyes out.

Blanc returned to the present as looked down to see her sisters once again. A smile crept up onto her lips and slowly wrapped her arms around the twins.

"Thanks, you two." Rom and Ram looked at each other and smiled in victory. As this happened, Nepgear and Uni made eye contact and nodded. The two slowly slid behind their seat and sneaked behind Noire and Neptune.

In an instant, the two sidled up beside their older sisters. After counting down from three sneakily, they caught Neptune and Noire in a group hug.

The CPU of Lastation was flustered by the sudden contact and Uni is satisfied with getting a new emotion for her role model. Meanwhile, Neptune held her snack up in the air to prevent it from dropping onto the ground or on her friends. The girl looked at her little sister cuddling against her tummy and made her signature carefree smile.

"Hey, Nep Jr. Wanna bite?" Nepgear nodded and opened her mouth, closing in on Neptune's spoon, causing the older sister to lean onto Noire. The black haired girl began to blush a deep red as her younger sister and her 'rival' touching her very closely.

"How sweet."

All heads turned to see Falcom sitting in between Vert and Noire. The ponytailed adventurer smiled as everyone called out her name.

"Falcom! When did you get here?" Falcom tilted her head.

"I've been here as soon as Histoire started shining." A collective "oh" came from the group and everyone else resumed hugging, much to Noire's dismay and IF's pleasure.

Arfoire rolled her eyes.

"Can we start watching the fight now?" Everyone apologized and all of the attention was turned to duel.

* * *

Thankfully, not a lot had happened while the group was distracted by hugs. Vert had been firing arrows which Blanc had deflected with his bo staff and redirected with his wind magic from _La Magie de l'Histoire_. After some time, Vert stopped firing arrows at Blanc and lowered her bow. Her eyes attempting to find Blanc's weakness. Suddenly, the girl smiled and notched an arrow.

"I commend you for being able to stop all of my arrows, something most of my opponents have not been able to achieve. Now, I will show you the reason why I'm a Major!" Blanc blinked.

"Then your opponents sucked, you arrows can't even touch me." An anger vein popped out of Vert's forehead.

"That's it!" Vert pulled the arrow farther back than most of her arrows. "Feel the might of Macrosharp!" Strong winds began to gather around the arrow. "_Sylhet Arrow_!" When the arrow was released, it flew towards Blanc, carried by the wind.

The boy tried to block the arrow with his bo staff. When the arrow connected with Blanc's weapon, the force from the wind arrow shoved Blanc backwards and nearly knocked the boy off balance.

Love and Peace were just as shocked as Blanc when he was knocked back by the arrow.

"Whoa! What just happened?" GC crossed his arms and stared ahead while answering Love's question.

"That was a fairly new technique where people would combine their magic into their weapons. Major Vert's _Sylhet Arrow_ is one of the many new skills made from this technique."

As GC explained to Love and Peace, Vert began to release a lot of _Sylhet Arrows_ at the boy. Eventually, the large numbers of arrows overpowered Blanc's grip and knocked the weapon out of Blanc's hand. The bo staff rolled away, far out of Blanc's reach. When Blanc turned around to grab his weapon and an arrow zipped past his head.

"It looks like you've lost." Vert grabbed a handful of arrows and launched them into the air. "_Sylhet Volley_!" The arrows split in the air and flew towards Blanc. In response, Blanc grinned. He opened the tome that was still in his hands and aimed his palm at the volley of arrows.

"_Galeforce_!" A strong blast of wind flowed out of the boy's hand and headed straight for the arrows. The magical wind clashed with the magical arrows and redirected the arrows out of their flight path. As the arrows landed harmlessly around Blanc, he took this chance to recall his weapon.

"How did you-! That was a high level spell!" GC widened his eyes once he took a closer look at the tome.

"That's…" Angered by her attack being negated, Vert grabbed one more arrow and pulled it back. GC watched as Blanc closed the book, allowing him to see the tome's gem. "It is… his book." Blanc held his bo staff, ready to deflect an attack.

"_Sylhet Arrow!_" Releasing the arrow, the arrow flew at Blanc. However, no wind surrounded it and it shot toward Blanc at the speed of Vert's normal arrows. Seeing this, Blanc deflected the arrow easily. Shocked at her arrow being a normal one, she looked toward her hand. "M-My MP!" Grinning, Blanc raced toward Vert.

"General, what happened?" Peace spoke in turn of GC.

"Lovey, I can answer this one easily. From my observation, magic infused attacks use MP, like any other magic spell." GC nodded.

"Very astute observation, peach girl." Peace smiled at the man.

"Thanks General. I'm not an inventor just for show, and my name's Peace." GC nodded once again.

"I'll remember that."

Blanc ran at Vert, his weapon in both hands, having dropped the tome on the floor. Flipping his weapon to deflect one more arrow from Vert, he thrusted the staff at his opponent. The girl then used her bow to block his attack and the two held their stances. Neither of them attempting to break free and instead glaring at each other fiercely.

* * *

"Wow, Blanc can't get in there huh? He's going to have trouble in the future if this keeps up." Everyone stares at IF, the girl had freed herself from her busty prison, or paradise, depending on the person. She looked back and forth between everyone, confused. "What's wrong?"

"IF," Blanc pointed at the Guild agent. "Innuendos."

It took a second for IF to understand what Blanc had meant and when she did, her face turned redder than when she was stuck between Compa and Vert.

"W-What! No!? That's not what I meant!" However, the group had gotten over IF's strange comments and her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Wow, Iffy. First the hotel fiasco and now this!" Arfoire looked at Neptune, curious.

"She's done this before?" Much to her amusement, Neptune nodded and the silver haired woman covered her head downwards in an attempt to hold back her laughter. At the sight of this, IF dropped her head, ashamed and embarrassed.

Compa shifted over to IF and patted her on the head.

"It's okay Iffy! You're cute when you're airheaded." IF threw hands into the air.

"I'm not airheaded!" Compa's soft eyes hardened, an intimidating aura surrounding the girl.

"Iffy…" IF looked as a shadow covered Compa's eyes.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Silenced by her friend's out of character moment, IF attempted to soothe the peach nurse.

"No! I-I-I mean…" Compa loomed over IF, a threatening smile on her face.

"Iffy." IF was suddenly scared out of her wits. She looked left and right, hoping for assistance. To her dismay, everyone had scooted _as far as they could_. "Look at me when I'm talking, Iffy." When IF turned to face her, the most terrifying thing locked eyes with her. She saw Blanc's signature red eye, but on Compa's face.

"EEEEEK!" Instinctively, IF thrusted her arms forward and held the closest thing to her, which ironically happened to be Compa.

Silence.

Slowly, but surely. The aura around Compa began to fade. And so did the red eye. In place of the red eye, were Compa's closed yet satisfied eyes. IF, did not notice due to screwing her eyes shut. She did stiffen when Compa returned the hug.

"Aww~, Iffy. Why didn't you tell me you wanted a hug?" IF opened her eyes to see the happy yet ditzy eyes of her gentle friend once more and the brown haired girl sighed in relief. The two Makers happily continued hugging each other, one happy that she wasn't going to face the wrath of the other and one happy about being hugged.

Vert, watching this, pouted.

"No fair. I want Iffy to hug me too!" Blanc watched as Vert attempted to get her favorite Maker to hug her as well. The CPU of Lowee looks down at her little twin sisters and smiles.

"At least I don't have to try to get attention." Blanc strengthened the hug and made the twins very happy.

Noire, still flustered as Uni and Nepgear had her and Neptune in a group hug, attempted to watch the deadlock between Origin-Blanc and Origin-Vert.

* * *

"Tch!" Blanc scowled as Vert grinned.

"Hmph, did you not think that I could not defend myself in close quarters?" Blanc raised an eyebrow.

"Honestly, with you being an archer an all, no." Vert narrowed her eyes.

"Well then." Vert added more force, pushing Blanc back. "I hope you are ready to fail!" Vert reached behind her for more arrows, only to find out that her quiver was empty.

"It looks like you've screwed up!" Taking Vert's new surprise to his advantage, Blanc once again closed the distance between him and his opponent. Vert held up her bow in an attempt to block any incoming frontal strike. "Up here, moron!" Vert looked up to see Blanc overhead, weapon ready to swing down on her skull.

"What!" Grinning once more, Blanc swung his weapon downwards and knocked Vert's bow out of her hands. As he landed, Blanc shoved Vert to the ground with a shoulder tackle. With her back on the ground, Vert looked up to see Blanc with one of the ends of his bo staff pointing at her.

"So. My win right?" Vert glared at him and then let her gaze burn the ground.

"...Just kill me." Blanc raised his eyebrows, his grin turning into a frown. He recalled his weapon into his brooch and sat next to Vert, who stared at the boy baffled.

"Stupid." Blanc crossed his legs and leaned on his hands to support his body. Vert glared at the boy, but saw him staring into the sky. Curious, she looked up as well. The sky was bright, cloudless blue, birds, high in the sky, flying by. "Peaceful, aren't they?" Turning to look at the boy, the wind picked up around them. The wind rustled Blanc's hair and Vert's flowed through the wind's current.

Hours ago, when Neptune fell, Blanc's blue eyes reminded her of a heavy downpour.

During their argument on the way to Maschief, his eyes looked like the sea's torrents, raging through the depths.

Earlier, they were like fast flowing rivers that never strayed from their course.

Now…

Now they were as calm as an undisturbed lake, and on his face was a sad smile.

"Why would I kill you?" The boy turned his head to look gazes with the girl next to him. "I have nothing against you," Blanc's eyes moved to the left for a second. "Well, maybe pride, but that's a different thing." Vert sighed and laid down on the ground, her arms spread out.

"Pride…" Vert stared straight into the air. "Is a driving force in my life." She reached out forward and closed her hand, using her other arm to cover her eyes.

"Huh." Blanc looked up to the sky once more. "That's how it is." Blanc stood up and turned to the girl. "I won't pry too much, it's your life." Vert craned her head upwards. The sunlight shined over Blanc, making him a silhouette in Vert's eyes, and the wind that blew past them caused her to see him in a fantasy-like setting.

He took a few steps away from Vert and stretched out his arm. A flash of blue cubes and white light surrounded his arm and formed into his bo staff. He flipped the weapon around until the staff's ends pointed to the sky and the earth, as if serving as a bridge.

Blanc then reached his free hand to the soldier lying down nearby.

"Teach me." Vert's eyebrows raised. "I have a feeling that your _special attack _is one of your many prides, isn't it?" The girl nodded, confused. "Teach me how to do it, your technique." The soldier sat up, narrowing her eyes. "You have pride in that skill, so it'd make you even prouder if someone else learned it from you, right?"

The girl paused before answering.

"Yes, I believe it would." Blanc made a small chuckle.

"Then teach me. I think it might help with whatever problems you're feeling right now." The boy outstretched his hand once more. Vert stared at the boy's hand for a moment, biting her lip.

After a moment, the girl reached up and grabbed his hand.

"Sure. I'd be delighted." Blanc helped Vert on her feet and the two smiled at each other. Vert walked toward the castle gates. "Come, there is a good place to train in here." Blanc shrugged his shoulders and followed her, passing by the formerly worried father and friends.

"It seems that Blanny and Miss Vert are now friends." Peace pointed to the two. Love grinned.

"It looks more like a mutual understanding to me." GC put his hands on his sides and gave a hearty laugh.  
"That's my boy! Enemies one second, allies the next, just like his old man!" The two girls looked to GC.

"What do you mean General?" He gave them a wide grin.

"That's how I met Advance." They looked at his questioningly.

"Who?" The man gave a chuckle similar to his son's.

"My wife and Blanc's mother." Two sounds of realization came from the two, GC laughed and walked inside. "Come on you two, let's go inside." The two girls went and grabbed the discarded tome and followed Blanc's father.

Vert led Blanc and company through the castle walls, weaving past the stone passageways and hallways. Passing by some of the soldiers on their way, the soldiers wearing armor similar in color to Vert's light uniform.

Those that saw Vert guiding Blanc by the arm, meaning every single one that they passed by, edged close to each other and whispered.

"Who's that with Young Lady Major?"

"I don't know, but is that a man!?"

"Yes, he is!"

"To think that the strong minded Major Vert was able to snag a man."

"I know, I thought that the she would have become a single woman for the rest of her life."

"Apparently not. Oh! Did you see what that boy's holding?"

"It's so long!"

In an attempt to get away from the embarrassing gossip, Vet gripped Blanc's arm harder and sped through the hallways. Vert didn't look at Blanc until they were out of the gossiper's range. _Those girls… _When she turned to look at Blanc, he seemed undeterred by the gossip. In fact, he seemed to be daydreaming.

_Aw man, I can't wait! I'm gonna learn new stuff. I can't to kick Neptune's ass with it! Yeah…_

For a second, Blanc's eyes were downcast, but they immediately turned back to excited.

After running for another minute, the two ran into an open courtyard. The courtyard was a clear plains with decorative trees in the four corners of the big room and a stream ran from outside the outer walls, through the castle and the courtyard and back out.

When Blanc and Vert stopped running to catch their breath, they were in the middle of the courtyard. Blanc looked around in awe. The boy ran around, taking in the simple yet peaceful sight. GC, Peace and Love entered the courtyard as Blanc spun around.

GC pointed to a place nearby a corner. Under the nearby corner tree was bench and the three settled down there. Vert crossed her arms and looked at Blanc seriously.

"Alright, are you ready?" Blanc turned to face the girl, his bo staff in hands.

"Yeah." Vert nodded and walked behind Blanc.

"Okay, this technique that we're going to practice is called _infusion_." Blanc looked at the weapon in his hands.

"_Infusion_?"

"Yes, it's when a person literally infuses one's magic into their weapons to form an attack of whatever element that person is using." Vert motioned toward Blanc's bo staff. "Imagine a spell coming out of your...stick." Blanc stared at her.

"It's a bo staff." The girl blinked.

"A what?"

"Bo. Staff. That's the name of my weapon." The soldier tilted her head.

"Aren't staves meant for healing and amplifying magic?" The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Mostly, this guy here," Blanc gave the weapon a couple of spins before driving it into the ground. "Is a physical version of a staff. It's more durable and it's length is extended to remedy the fact that it's not a bladed weapon nor can it be used to cast spells." Vert put her hand under her chin.

"Hmm. That's a different style of fighting compared to the fighting style of Macrosharp." Blanc grinned.

"Yeah. It's a style that Master Cast taught me." All of the girls were now confused. "He's actually-"

"Neptune's father. He probably learned from Cast because he was a weapon master. He practiced and mastered every weapon that was under the sun when we traveled about as Tari soldiers."

Blanc grinned even wider.

"Master Cast was the best at the bo staff. He even taught Neptune how to hold the sword." Vert closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"I see." But then something didn't seem right to Vert. "But how did you learn magic?"

"Master Dream, or is it Mistress Dream?" Blanc placed a hand on his forehead, trying to remember how to address her.

When the two girls tried to ask him, GC answered before they could try it.

"Cast's wife and Neptune's mother. She was terrific at magic, and she and Cast were one of the first people to use _infusion_." Gasps of awe came from the two girls.

"Whaaa~! Nep-Nep's mommy and daddy were that cool!" GC nodded as Peace beamed, sweat rolled down Love's neck as she watched her friend's reaction.

"Wow, I have a little more respect for Nep now." GC smiled, but then paused.

"Wait, Nep-Nep? Nep?" The two nodded. "Didn't you just meet my son and Neptune recently?" They nodded again. "Bu-Ho-..." GC's eyes turned blank and he looked back to the two. "Nevermind, I won't question it."

Meanwhile, Vert began explaining to Blanc the basics of _infusion_, but somehow she was speaking in fast forward. If Blanc had a spell that could control time, even if he used it slow Vert down, the speed of the girl's mouth would make Planeptune's Mascot seem slow.

When she finished explaining, Blanc's eyes were replaced with swirls. The girl watched the boy tumble around, trying to keep the information in his head. After a while, she got tired of waiting and snapped her fingers, catching the boy's attention.

"Basically, it's like your weapon or whatever you're using is a part of your body, and you use your will to shape the magic's energy into the desired form." Blanc nodded and held the weapon out in front of him. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

"_Absolute Zero!_" The ends of the staff began to glow and energy began to elongate the weapon, imitating the form of a double ended lance.

Suddenly, GC stood up and ran to the two.

"BLANC STOP!" Vert looked at the general confused.

"General, what's _Absolute Zero?_" The man picked up his pace, running as fast as he could.

"That's way too strong of a spell to use in infusion, that's a A-Rank spell!" Vert's eyes widened.

"A-A!" The energy began to sizzle and crack. The cracks began to larger and larger until… the energy exploded.

Shards of ice flew everywhere as Blanc and Vert were blasted by the explsion of ice.

"Ah! Blanny!" Peace and GC ran to Blanc while Love checked on Vert. She kneeled next to the boy, the bo staff was lying nearby, the ends of it damaged. Peace sighed, she's going to need to reinforce it again later. But what shocked her was when she looked at Blanc, although her was the closest to the explosion, being the source, he was not pierced or cut below his neck area or past his wrists. The ice shards that did attempt to hurt him were stuck on the coat, harmlessly in place.

"M-M-M-Major!?" Peace looked over to see Vert sit up. She was fine, cut up a bit. However, that wasn't what got Love surprised. Vert's clothes were damaged from the explosion and revealed her skin. It mostly cut around the torso area as well, revealing her upper body to those around her, except Blanc as he was still trying to regain his consciousness.

The girl with the damaged clothing looked down, her bindings were cut, revealing, to her, one of her worst assets. Instinctively, she covered herself and screamed a girly scream.

* * *

Neptune and others stared at Origin-Vert with no surprise. Vert sighed in relief while Uni and Blanc felt envy.

"Welp. Origin-Vert's got boobs."


	20. Green and White: Bonding

Chapter 3: Bonding

Vert sighed in relief, her past self wasn't as busty as her although her chest similar to Noire's, but that made her feel better nonetheless. She ignored the pointed glares of Blanc and Uni while IF just sat there, staring. Eventually, the girl shrugged and continued hugging her nurse friend.

Noire rolled her eyes and flinched when she felt pressure on her shoulder. Neptune had finished her pudding and took a nap, her head falling onto Noire. Biting her lip, Noire stared straight ahead, trying to keep her attention on the story and not on the purple haired girl sleeping on her lap.

* * *

Blanc opened his eyes and sat up, placing a hand onto his forehead, on his head was a folded wet towel that fell to the ground when he sat up. He looked around to see that he was under one of the trees that cornered the courtyard. As Blanc overlooked his surroundings, GC tapped his son on the shoulder.

"You alright?" The boy nodded.

"Yeah, a little disoriented." After a minute, Blanc stood up with his father's help and furrowed his eyebrows. His upper body felt… lighter. He looked down to see his white sleeveless t-shirt and white pants, smudged with dirt.

Blinking, Blanc's eyes widened and he looked around. The jacket he had been wearing, Neptune's jacket, was no longer on his person. Spinning around frantically, Blanc was about yell when his sights landed on Peace.

After checking on Blanc, Peace was curious of the jacket that belonged to her missing friend. The jacket still had some ice shards remaining, but she removed the larger ones. The alchemist girl shifted the jacket around, feeling the fabric and staring at certain spots closely.

"Hey." The girl ignored her friend. The boy took a step towards the girl.

"Blanc," The boy paused upon hearing his father's voice. "She's just looking into the jacket.

"What?" GC shrugged his shoulders.

"It seems that your friend's jacket has some magical properties to it." He pointed to the ice shards still embedded into the cloth. Peace nodded as she turned to cloth over.

"Yes, it seems it has resistance to ice magic and some other properties that I can't identify by myself." Blanc was confused.

"But, from what I heard from Love, when Neptune stopped a fire spell from the bastard that uses magic, his coat was burned by the flames." Peace nodded.

"That's what's confusing me right now. If it has defensive properties, then why did was it affected by the flames? Hmm…" Blanc watched as the young genius went through a very complicated thought process. With how she stopped talking and began mumbling to herself, Blanc and GC saw these actions as deep thinking. GC turned to his son.

"While I make sure your friend doesn't lose her sanity from thinking too hard, why don't you check on Love and the major over there?" GC pointed nearby, Love was standing over a Vert who sat on the ground with her knees up to her chest and hugging her legs. Love's mouth made a few movements and the Major's head slowly moved side to side and the ninja girl gave a small sigh. Blanc slowly walked over to them. As Blanc moved closer, Love noticed the boy and turned to the boy.

"How are ya feeling?" Blanc nodded and looked at the girl who was sitting on the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" Love's eyes turned dull and stared at Blanc.

"Well...she's embarrassed about her breasts." Blanc's shoulders dropped and he turned to Vert. "So she binded them and is now she's acting weird."

"What." Vert pressed her head closer to her knees and tried to cover her head with her arms. The girl made sounds but they were muffled so that no one could hear her. Love dropped her head onto Blanc's shoulder, giving him a grin and a thumbs up.

"Welp, I can't do anything more or else I'd get pissed off. It's all up to you now." Love left Blanc dumbfounded. He looked at Vert then to Love, throwing his arms into the air when he looked at the latter.

"What am I supposed to do?" Love raised her hand into the air as she walked away.

"I don't know. Talk to her." With a sigh, Blanc slowly and quietly sat beside Vert.

"So…" Vert didn't react to Blanc so he continued speaking. "Is there any particular reason for hiding your…" Blanc looked to the side, his face turning uncomfortable. "Uh...You know what I mean." The girl didn't speak still so the boy sat next to her, waiting.

After time had passed, Vert's voice found its way to Blanc's ear.

"...Pride." The girl finally lifted her head up, tears on the corners of her eyes. "Remember how I said pride is a driving force in my life?" The boy nodded as the girl removed her head to look at him straight in the eyes. She then looked up to the sky, reaching out to it with an open palm. "It all started with my mother."

"You're mother?"

"Yes, my mother was a general of the Macroshapian army. She was strong-willed and never backed down from a challenge." The soldier shook her head, a smile on her face. "Funny thing, is that was how I was born. Mother never stopped chasing after my father until he was hers." Blanc sat quietly as the girl chuckled. "When I was born, Mother put me into training as soon as I was able." Vert closed her hand into a fist and kept her arm in the air. "As I grow, parts of my body did too. However, there was one thing that seemed off to me."

Blanc stared as the girl dropped her arm into her lap. The blonde haired girl gritted her teeth.

"My mother was a woman of chivalry and passion, yet when she told me of how she met my father, she never used any of those powerful traits of hers. Instead she used…" Vert began to shake.

"Vert?" Blanc tried to touch the girl but as soon as he made contact, the girl froze.

"She used…" Vert looked at Blanc, her eyes overflowing with tears and her face a deep red stretching across her cheeks. "SHE USED HER BODY!" Blanc subconsciously flinched as the girl made her confession.

"Wha-" Vert moved closer to Blanc, their faces close. The two had different faces: Vert's was a mixture of embarrassment and frustration while Blanc's was mostly of discomfort.

* * *

The party had a different collective reaction to Vert's uncomfortable confession. Everyone, including Vert herself, had a "Really?" expression on her face. Arfoire sighed.

"Glad I wasn't there at the time." Noire blankly stared at the two, having voice acted in so many animes, she could clearly tell what was going to happen next.

* * *

Vert grabbed Blanc by the shoulder, turning him to face her and keeping him from backing away. Sweat began to roll down the boy's face, both out of discomfort and confusion.

"My mother _swallowed_ her pride in order to capture her beloved one." Vert's eyes made the statement seem more impactive than it really was. Without realizing it, she moved her face so close to Blanc that if they were any closer, they could be touching noses. "When I heard this story from Mother, I was agast. It was because of this that I was terrified of attracting men as I grew older."

"Uh…" Blanc had trouble catching on but Vert continued on.

"However, as I grew older, Mother said I was having growth periods similar to her. Upon hearing that I realized that I wanted to be different." Blanc became more and more confused. Vert's eyes grew larger and larger as her ambition became 'clearer'. "One day my mother said that she waits for the day that I would find my own man. So, I devised a plan." Vert made a smirk and her eyes became serious. "I would bind my chest, then find a man that would love me for being me, not for my body."

"Oh…" Blanc scratched the back of his neck. "That's very… ideal." Vert nodded in agreement. She smiled and placed both of her hands on the boy's shoulders.

"I knew you would agree." The girl had a satisfied look on her face. "I'm glad you understand." She then looked at her tattered clothing, and then looked up to see that followed her gaze. "Well...this is...embarrassing to say the least." The boy nodded, looking out to the courtyard.

"So, about this ideal…" Vert tilted her head. "Is it working out well?" The girl rubbed the top of her head bashfully.

"Yes, well, there was a slight problem with my plan."

"Huh? What problem?"

"My country… happens to lack a huge fundamental to my plan. That is to say, men." Blanc furrowed an eyebrow until he remembered the gender ratio of Macrosharp.

"Oh, yeah. Almost no guys. Right." Vert nodded.

"Yes, although there was a practical use for my ideal." She pointed to her bow, leaned against the tree beside them.

"What?"

"I learned that not having a chest makes fighting easier." Despite the comment not relating to her, Love felt very irritated.

Blanc chuckled and he stared up to the bright blue sky.

"Well, I don't think that a chest means anything about the person. In fact, I believe that the person's heart and mind make impressions and friendships." Vert stared at the boy.

"You don't seem to be the type to make those kinds of speeches." Blanc looked at the girl next to him with dull eyes.

"You've known me for barely a day." The girl smiled.

"Yes, but it doesn't take long to learn a person." The boy huffed.

"Actually, Neptune's the one who'd make these kinds of cheesy lines." The girl looked at Blanc questioningly.

"Neptune?"

"My brother." After hearing those two words, Vert began to make connections in her head.

"You mean the one who was lost at the cliffside?" Blanc gritted his teeth.

"Not _lost_. _Misplaced_." Blanc turned to Vert, a small smile on his face. "When we see him again, we're gonna take him home. Home with us."

"Home?"

"Yes. Back to the village where Neptune and I grew up."

"Wait, what do you mean us?" Blanc pointed at Vert.

"You." Vert became flustered, about to stutter uncontrollably when Blanc began talking. "And Me." At this point, Vert's heart almost stopped. "My father, Love and Peace." Slowly, the surprise from Blanc's statement faded away from Vert's heart. The girl placed a hand over her chest, attempting to calm herself. Blanc noticed this and became worried. "What's wrong, exhausted?" The girl shook her head and waved his arms.

"No. No, I'm just fine." Blanc shrugs and stands up.

"Welp, it seems like you've cheered up a bit. So I'm going to check up on the others." When Blanc walked off, Vert placed her hands on her cheeks.

"My face… is so warm."

* * *

The party watches Origin-Vert acting weird. Vert crosses her arms and closes her eyes.

"Oh, my. It seems that my original's heart might have been won over." Noire looks at the blonde CPU.

"What makes you say that?" Vert smiles and leans upon Blanc, causing Rom to scoot onto Blanc's lap and entrapping Lowee's CPU.

"Oh nothing. Just a hunch~." Blanc became uncomfortable from all the people surrounding her.

"You guys are suffocating me." Ram shook her head.

"Too bad! We're still gonna you!" Rom nodded.

"Still…" Vert pressed her body onto Blanc's.

"They're right Blanc, we will continue against your will." With those words, the CPU of Leanbox wrapped her arms around Lowee's CPUs.

"Wha- Hey- Stop it." Blanc struggled against the three people hugging her and IF watched, sharing the feeling of being surrounded against her will. Everyone began to giggle and laugh as they watched Blanc's predicament. "Someone help me!" However they left the four to their devices.

"Sorry Blanc. We got other things to do." Blanc's eye twitched.

"_**HEY! Neptune, help me out here!"**_

* * *

Blanc returned to Vert with an envelope in his hand. The green soldier stood up once the boy reached her.

"Blanc, what is it?" He held up the envelope to her.

"Well, Peace and Father are still analyzing Neptune's jacket. So, he gave me the key to my room and…"

"And?" Blanc scratched his cheek.

"I have _no idea_ how to get there." Vert blinked.

"O-Oh, right. Yes, of course. You just arrived here after all." The girl tilted her head to one of the nearby doors. "Well, would you like me to take you there?" The boy grinned and laughed.

"Why else would I ask?" Blanc crossed his arms. "Come on let's go!" The girl smiled and raised a hand, ready to be a tour guide. The boy turned to his father and friends. "Father, Love, Peace! I'm going to look for my room with Vert." GC raised a hand and shouted back.

"Alright then, lunch won't be ready for quite some time. So get settled into your new home and get some rest." Blanc raised an arm as well.

"Got it!" With that, the soldier and the brotherless brother went in a min-exploration to find the boy's room. GC shook his head and turned to Peace.

"So, what did you find inventor?" Peace stood up and Love held the jacket, which was now free from the ice and was folded neatly.

"Mr. General. It's Peace. Anyways, the jacket is…"

Vert led Blanc through corridors of Maschief's castle, greeting officials of the country and members of the Resistance as they walked through. Some of the Resistance members spoke to Blanc as if he was GC, but then realized who he was. Also, the officials talked to Vert, going over plans and guerilla missions for Maschief.

* * *

Eventually, they made their way to the white door that led to Blanc's room.

"Alright, this should be it, if the directions of the letter are correct." Blanc narrowed his eyes.

"It better be." Blanc crossed his arms. "I mean really Father? What does 'Go past Cherry Tree' mean?" Vert giggled.

"Yes, it is a very unorthodox way of naming but this is how we named sections in Maschief here." Blanc sighed and opened the envelope, taking out a white key.

"Welp, gotta get used to it. I guess." Blanc inserted the key and turned it, unlocking the door. He opened the door and let Vert motioned for Vert to enter, but the girl shook her head.

"No, no. It is fine. After all, I need to change thanks to our 'duel'." She motioned to the damaged clothing she wore. Blanc raised his eyebrows, remembering that he caused it.

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that."

"Oh it's fine."

"Know that I think about it, they really didn't notice your clothes." Vert shrugged.

"Well, most of us are all female here and this sort of thing happens a lot during training." Blanc nodded.

"Alright then, I'll see you later."

"Yes. I'll come back to take you the cafeteria for lunch."

"Kay. Thanks." Vert turned to leave and Blanc entered the room.

The room, like the door, was white, although a duller shade of white. There was a window across the door that was covered in thick white curtains, covering the light. In the semi-darkness, Blanc could see the bed, a night table and an empty shelf on one side of the room and a desk on the other side of the room. In order to see the room in more detail, Blanc walked over to the curtains and pulled them apart, letting light into his new abode.

The desk was made of sturdy mahogany-colored wood cut from Macrosharpian trees (not that Blanc would know) and the night table and shelf were made of a lighter color wood. The bed itself had two pillows and white bedsheet and blanket neatly placed on the bed.

Blanc sharply inhaled and exhaled. After seeing all the trees and green plains, this white room was refreshing to the boy. He tossed his bag onto the night table and opened it, taking out _La Magie de l'Histoire_. The boy jumped onto the bed, bouncing after landing on it. He opened the tome and began reading through it carefully.

* * *

The boy was about a third through the tome's content when someone knocked on the door.

"Blanc?" The boy looked up to see Vert standing nearby the door. She wasn't wearing a soldier's uniform, but she was wearing the polar opposite of her uniform. She wore a light green dress with frills on the hems of the dress and the cuffs of the sleeves. The girl's hair was tied into a ponytail.

"Oh hey." Vert was staring at the book in Blanc's hands.

"What is that? You used that book in our duel." Blanc raised the tome higher into the air.

"This? Oh, it's a tome called _La Magie de l'Histoire_." Vert furrowed her eyebrows.

"We have plenty of tomes in the castle library, but I've never heard of a tome like that."

"Yeah, well the Elder made this one himself."

"Elder?"

"The village chief of my home. He handed this to me and Neptune…" Blanc looked out the now uncovered window. The glass panes separated the outside air of the courtyard from the inside air of Blanc's room. From his position, Blanc could see one of the trees. "Before he sacrificed himself to get us away from Tari." Vert's face became worried.

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that." Blanc shook his head.

"Don't be. He choose to end his life there and I'll be forever grateful, and forever mournful of his decision. Anyways, he gave this to me because he wanted me to complete it."

"Complete it? It's not finished?"

"No. He spent a long time making this, but he never got to finish it." Blanc turned the book around and handed it to her. Vert flipped through the book quickly, eventually coming across a vast sea of empty pages. She placed her finger between the last filled in page and the first blank page and closed the book, her finger still inside. The pages that were filled barely outnumbered the blank pages. The girl removed her finger from the tome and handed it back to Blanc.

"As I looked through, I saw some high level spells." Blanc nodded.

"Yeah, this tome not only allows me to cast spells with ease, but I use it to remember the enchantments of certain spells so that I can use them without it." Vert crossed her arms.

"I see. That explains why you tried to use _infusion _with such a strong spell." Blanc rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, I didn't really know that would happen." Vert huffed and sat by Blanc.

"Other than learning from the tome, why do you have it?" Blanc looked from the window to Vert's deep sea blue eyes.

"Elder asked Neptune and I to finish this filling in book." Blanc pointed to the book. "When we received the book, it was only a tenth full, but now we have at least a half of the tome full now." Vert raised her eyebrows.

"Wow, I commend you for efforts to progress so far." However, Blanc clicked his tongue. "What's wrong? Are you not satisfied?" Blanc shook his head.

"For starters, the book isn't finished. Now, there's a new technique combines both magic and weapon strikes." Vert sighs.

"Don't worry, as I am now here." Vert attempts to stop her blush. "I mean, I'm here to help you with that technique and I can now assist you in fulfilling your elder's request."

Blanc stared at the girl with a bright smile, the light from the window illuminating the area behind him, making him seem holy or angelic.

"Yeah, thanks. Please take care of me." If one could see arrows in the room right now, one would see a love-elemental arrow pierce her heart.

* * *

"Woah, Origin-Vert's a maiden in love...despite having a fight and then almost immediately falling in love." IF deadpanned.

"Yep, it's like friendship after defeat, but instead of friendship it's love!" Neptune threw her arms into the air at the 'love' part. Vert giggled and wrapped her arms around Blanc tighter.

"What are you doing, Vert?" The CPU of Leanbox nuzzled her head into CPU of Lowee's hair.

"Reflecting on my original's desires." At this point, the twin CPU Candidates moved away from their older sister out of awkwardness.

"Oh. Okay then." Silence. Despite the awkwardness, the two CPUs acted as if this was a natural thing.

* * *

After the warming of Vert's heart, a question appeared in her head.

"Um, if I may." Blanc looked up from reading the tome. Suddenly, the soldier was nervous, more nervous than if she had to invade a fortified base. She looked to the side, imaginary sweatdrops flying from the side of her face. The boy stared at the girl.

"Why?" The soldier suddenly became flustered and turned her head left and right, thinking of a reason to help her.

"U-U-Uh… I mean… I-I-In order to t-t-teach you _infusion_. I-It would be easier for me to know what kind of spells you can use." Vert's heart was thumping so hard against her chest that she was afraid that she would faint on the spot. Blanc shrugged and tilted the book towards her.

"Eh. Sure why not? Get over here." Vert's eyes began to shine and she leaned onto Blanc in order to read better, her body pressing against Blanc's.

* * *

"Whoo! Go Origin-Vert! Get him with indirectness!" Noire crossed her arms yet again, but, whether she admit's or not, this time it's because Neptune had woken up and left her lap.

"My original better not be as easy to win over like Vert's." Vert chuckles and nuzzles Blanc.

"Hehe. One such as Noire will never understand love." Noire stutters trying to counter argue Vert, but eventually gave up, letting the blonde revel in her victory. Secretly (not really) Noire smirks.

"We'll see who understands love more." Despite not being in the origin story yet, Noire is now betting on that her original's love life is going to be more eventful that Origin-Vert's.

* * *

Meanwhile, while Blanc and Vert are still reading.

"By the way, how old are you, Blanc?"

"Fifteen, almost sixteen."

"Oh! When's your birthday?"

"Next year."

"That's not almost!"

"Close enough."

"Oh. I see." Vert shakes her head in confusion. Blanc chuckles as he finished playing mind games with Vert.

"Yeah…" The boy smiled.


	21. Green and White: Silver Hair

Chapter 4: The Silver Hair

Hours later, GC and Peace finished analyzing Neptune's coat with the help of a third party. After that, GC took the jacket and went to his son's room. Weaving through the hallways, the man encountered the door that led to his son's room. Opening the door, he walked inside to see his son asleep on his bed, his tome in his lap. Alongside was Vert, having fallen asleep as well, her head falling onto Blanc's shoulder. The father chuckled and shook his head.

"Kids." He placed Neptune's clothing onto one of the desk. Turning to his son, he gently removed the tome from Blanc's hands. Flipping through the pages, the gem on the book shined, the light covering Blanc's father. On the pages, the light began to engrave words onto them. He turned to one of the pages and read one of the new spells, _Frozen Calamity_. GC sighed and closed the book, running his hand over the front cover and leaving his hand on the gem, a sad smile on his face.

"Master…" GC put the tome next to Neptune's jacket and unfolded it. Love had revised it so that it looked closer to it's original cloak version, but it was now more of an overcoat. He walked over to his son and patted his son's head gently. GC smiled once again as he stared at his son's face, happy to see his son after years of separation.

"Blanc, I'm glad you were able to grow this much." GC's mouth tilted downwards a little bit and sighed. "However, I fear that you have to grow more." Blanc's father gently tugged the blanket from out under both of them and covered them quietly. Then, he took an envelope out of his pocket and placed it on top of the jacket.

Walking out of the room, GC stretched his arms by moving his arms over his head. The man gave a satisfied sigh and walked down the hallway.

"Might as well head to the command room." He started his not long journey to the command room, taking shortcuts and walking at a fast pace.

* * *

Upon reaching the the corridor that led to the room that acted as the Resistance's command room, he ran into the third party that made Peace and his efforts to analyze the jacket seem convoluted.

The sun was angled so that light could not reach the third party so they could only see black boots. GC grinned and waved to the person.

"Hey there, tactician." The figure chuckled, revealing the third party to be a woman.

"Hey. General." GC laughed.

"Oi, oi. No need for formalities, it's GC." If there was light, one would have been able to see that the woman was smirking.

"Well, I'd have to say _GC_, that would be nice if you would remember my name."

As she spoke longer and longer, the party couldn't shake the fact that the third party's voice was familiar beyond doubt. Arfoire just huffed.

GC made a hearty laugh and grinned widely at her.

"Well, you know, tactician. I have trouble remembering names."

"Except for your wife, your son, and your second-in-command, Vert." GC shrugged and opened the door.

"What can I say? My memory is not what it used to be." GC grinned before walking inside. "I'm getting old."

With those words, the third party laughed loudly. However, that laugh seemed oddly familiar to the party, but they brushed it off. Once again, if there was light, the party would have seen her wipe tears from her eyes.

"Old? You're only thirty-five, General. Cut yourself some slack."

* * *

Sometime after GC left, Blanc awoke. He stretched his arms and legs. The boy stopped stretching after he felt something land on his lap. Rubbing his eyes, Blanc looked down to see Vert's head, sleeping peacefully. Looking left and right, Blanc felt uncomfortable until he saw Neptune's coat and _La Magie de l'Histoire_ on the desk. Eager to reach those two items, he shook Vert. The girl made a muffled sound, nuzzling her head into the boy's leg. After a moment, the girl sat up and at this point the boy decided to act like Neptune for a second and tease the girl.

"Vert, this is very _awkward_. I mean, we just met last night and I'm not ready to be a dad at the age of fifteen." The soldier rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"What was that?" The boy sighed and shook his head, leaving the bed.

"Nevermind~." He walked over to the desk and unfolded his brother's jacket. However, he noticed that the jacket was modified, as it reached his knees now and there were the blue stripes and a zipper that were missing to resemble Neptune's jacket. He slipped it on, happy that his brother's memento was okay, albeit a little different. The boy noticed an envelope on the tome and picked up, opening it's contents and revealing a letter. He read the letter quickly and then folded it, placing it onto the desk.

"What did it say?" Blanc turned his head to see Vert standing nearby.

"Father wants me to meet with him during lunch." As he said that, his stomach growled. Vert giggled as the boy patted his stomach.

"I'd say that it's lunch now." Blanc agreed.

"So can you take me to where we eat?" Vert nodded.

"Gladly."

* * *

As the two leave, Neptune placed her hand on her chin, contemplating.

"What is it Nep? It's not like you to think." Neptune pouted at her friend.

"Rude! I do think! In fact, I was thinking about how Origin-Blanc and Origin-Vert hated each other hours ago. Now, they're joking around with each other and taking naps together." IF sighed, she had muttered the same thing earlier and no said anything. However, she did think of a reason that would end Neptune's thinking.

"Well, how did you make friends with everyone." Neptune racked her brain for a moment.

"I met Compa when she saved me from choking on dirt. I met Iffy by running into her. I met Noire by beating her up and then hugging her. MAGES., Tekken, Falcom, Marvy, and CC2 I met from them helping us. Oh, and Puchiko too!"

Somewhere, Broccoli looked up annoyed.

"Somehow, I feel like Neptune is calling me Puchiko again." The girl sighed and returned to doing nothing.

"I met Vert after being poisoned. Blanc, after finding out the Blanc we met was a fake and that the real one was having a revolution. Histy, from her waking me up from unconsciousness and free her. Nep. Jr. and the other little tots after they were born and finally I met Arfoire after she tried to take my powers and kill and the I saved her and turned her to normal." The guild agent sweatdropped.

"Nep, you didn't need to go over _everything_. I was there for most of it." Neptune tilted her head.

"So why'd you need me to remember all that?"

"Nep, you made friends with everyone out of nowhere, right?"

"Technically, yeah."

"Well, let's say that your past self had the same trait and we know that Origin-Blanc has been picked up some of Origin-Nep's traits. So we can say that Origin-Blanc had picked up that as well, making a friend out of nowhere." Neptune furrowed her eyebrows, confused.

"I'm still not getting what you mean, but if you're saying that I'm indirectly the reason for those two becoming buddies, then I like it!" Neptune gave the girl a thumbs up.

Arfoire smiled, she looked at her hands, cupped together and placed on her lap. She sighed. She wished that the Neptune of the past had been able to smile, laugh and have fun as his current incarnation had. The woman shook her head and looked at the scene in front of her. She had to be prepared for how the girls were going to react.

* * *

Blanc and Vert walked down a hallway and they could hear the sounds of silverware hitting plates and people chatting. They could also smell the mouth-watering food that wafted out the door. The two were about to run into cafeteria when the door ahead of them opened. A woman walked out of the room and looked straight at the two.

"You're GC's kid, right?" Blanc nodded and glared at the woman.

"Yeah, who am I talking to?" The boy was pulled aside by Vert.

"Blanc, what are you doing!?" Blanc looked at the girl, confused.

"She's-" At that moment, the party had good look at the woman. She had silver hair that reached past her shoulders and stopped at the small of her back. She had sharp blue eyes and wore a black dress with a light blue corset. The dress had purple highlights and she wore black frilled sleeves. She also wore a black and blue choker.

* * *

Neptune pointed at the woman and then to Arfoire.

"A-Arfoire! She's-" Arfoire nodded.

"Yes, that's me." Everyone except for the woman and Histoire gasped and were surprised. "I can't be surprised, since this is part of my past after all." Blanc pointed at the woman now.

"B-But, you barely aged!' Arfoire shook her head.

"I have aged. I believe I'm only physically five years older than I am from then." Now everyone was shocked.

"Five years!" The woman nodded.

"Age doesn't really matter at this point." Smirking, Arfoire decided to quote one of her long lost friends. "I'm old."

"Woah, if you were you're evil self. You would've denied being called old." The woman shrugged.

"Eh, you change a lot after being corrupted by evil for a long time."

* * *

"She's Arfoire! The Resistance's master tactician." Blanc's eyes widened as the woman crossed her arms. She then pointed at Blanc.

"That." To be specific, she was pointing at Neptune's coat. "Why do you have that?" Blanc gripped the cloth protectively.

"This is my brother's." The woman looked at Blanc confused.

"Brother? But GC said that his wife died after you were born." The boy shook his head.

"No, he was my adoptive brother."

"And who is that?"

"His name is Neptune Planeptune, the son of Dream and Cast, my adoptive parents." Arfoire looked downwards, clicking her tongue.

"I had a feeling that Dream was involved." Blanc looked at the tactician.

"Wait, how do you know Aunty Dream?" Arfoire crossed her arms.

"What do you expect? She's my older sister." In that instant, everyone: Origin-Blanc, Origin-Vert and the whole part, minus Arfoire and Histoire of course, shouted in surprise.

* * *

"Wait wait wait." Noire looked at Arfoire. "You're Neptune's mother's sister!?" The woman said nothing and nodded her head. She then turned to Neptune, staring at her affectionately. "Then, then, then, that means-" She smiled at Neptune.

"That mean's that I'm your original's aunt." Neptune stared at the woman in awe. Arfoire stared at the girl as well, seeing her nephew in her, literally and philosophically.

* * *

"Now that you know that, tell me." She pointed at Blanc once more. "What happened to my sister and her family." Blanc looked at the ground, his eyes showing sorrow.

"Are you sure?" Arfoire nodded. Blanc sighed.

"Well…" Blanc recounted of the village's destruction, of Dream's unwanted burial, of Cast's death and of Neptune's being thrown off a cliff, all in as much detail as possible. As Blanc told Arfoire what happened, her face turned from one of seriousness, to one of surprise, to one of horror, to one of distraught, to one of hopeful fear. "And that's what happened to them."

Arfoire looked at the ground. Her hair covered her face. She turned to the wall and sighed. After a moment, she turned to Blanc and the boy looked at the boy with hard eyes.

"Let me ask a question." Arfoire nodded. "Why did you want to know about this jacket."

The woman made a sorrowful smile.

"I was asked by your inventor friend and your dad to take a look at it and I immediately recognized the stitchings as my sister's. She always had unique feeling to her handiwork. Also, that jacket has been infused with magic resistance."

"Infused?"

"Yes, although it wasn't completed. It was only infused with wind, ice and thunder resistance, which was why the fire was able to burn parts of it. Your girly ninja friend and I mended the damaged parts and added the missing resistance to it." Blanc nodded his head, taking this information to heart.

"That's good, now Neptune won't ever have to take it off." Arfoire tilted her head.

"Well, after the burning incident, Neptune took off his jacket whenever he had the chance in a fight." Arfoire smiled.

"The kid must've loved that jacket now coat." Blanc nodded in agreement. "Anyways, thanks for telling me what happened to my sister, although it upsets me that she's gone, I'm happy that I was able to find out what happened to her." She motioned her hand to the door. Blanc made an upset chuckle.

"Heh, ironic." Arfoire looked at the boy questioningly. "First, you lost your sister and you searched for. Now I got separated from Neptune and now I have to look for him." Blanc and Vert walked past Arfoire and into the lunch room.

The woman placed a hand on Blanc as he passed her.

"Don't worry kid, we'll find him." Blanc nodded.

"I know we will." Arfoire smiled softly, almost motherly, at him. "Come on, let's get some lunch." Blanc, Vert and Arfoire continued into the lunch room, stomachs empty and ready to be filled.

Blanc turned to Arfoire.

"By the way, my name's Blanc." The woman grinned.

"I'll remember that."


	22. Green and White: Heart to Heart

Chapter 5: Heart to Heart

Arfoire led Blanc into the mess hall, where both Resistance members and Maschief soldiers ate together. Vert had been waiting for them at the door and at the same time looking for a table.

"Don't worry about looking for a table Major," She pointed to a table nearby the tables that had all the food laid out. There, GC sat at an empty table, waving to them. Vert walked over to the food table, grabbing a plate.

"Let's get some food, shall we?" Nodding, the silver tactician and the brunette boy followed the blond soldier and got a plate full of food. Once they sat down at the table that GC held for them, Blanc's father grinned at him.

"So hows the base son?" As Blanc and his father started up a conversation, Arfoire made a depressed sigh. Vert happened to notice this and asked her what's wrong. Arfoire put a hand onto her forehead and rubbed one of her temples.

"'What's wrong', Major? Well I just learned that my sister and her husband have been dead for about a year and my nephew is missing-in-action or dead." Upon hearing the disappointed and upset tone of his tactician, GC leaned over to Arfoire.

"Woman, calm down. Neptune will be fine. He's the son of your sister and my best friend. He can't die that easily." GC saw that his words were cheering up the woman at all and smiled softly. "I had a feeling that you wouldn't be satisfied with that so I had scouts go over to the cliff side and investigate the area to see if anything has happened to him. Don't worry. He'll be fine." Arfoire huffed and turned back to her plate.

"You better be right, or else I'm going to rain all of my spells on you." GC laughed and continued eating.

* * *

As they watched, the party heard the sounds of a stomach growling. However, they could not find the person who made the sound.

"**Oh my. My apologies. That was my stomach." **The group giggled as they hadn't expected Histoire to be the source of the voice.

"I agree with Histy with lunch!" Blanc sighed, wanting to see what would happen next and called for Financier. Not long after Blanc's call, food appeared on the tables in front of them.

"**Lunch is ready~."** Financier's voice rang, but she wasn't visible to the others.

"Alright, grub's here."

"Thanks, Financier." Blanc's chamberlain waved off the thanks, saying that it was her job after all, and left the room.

"Thank you for the food~." As everyone reached for some food, parts of the food floated into the air and disappeared in tiny bits.

"Whoa! What's happening?" Ram pointed fearfully as her twin sister hid behind her back. Everyone else stopped reaching for the food as they saw the food disappear...very slowly. Before they would start any rumors of ghosts, Arfoire dashed away their fears immediately by saying it was just Histoire.

"Wha-? Really?" Neptune turned towards the disappearing food and called out to Histoire.

"**Yes?" **Almost immediately, the disappearing food made the sound of Histoire's voice. The group sighs in relief and returned to eating their food.

* * *

Blanc saw Arfoire cutting up some sauteed eggplants and looked at them in disgust.

"Ugh…" Arfoire looked at Blanc and sneered at him.

"What's wrong, kid? Afraid of eggplants, their filled with a lot of metals and their good for you." Blanc shook his head and opened a tangerine that he had lying on his plate.

"No… I just remembered this one time…"

"Hm? About eggplants?"

"Yeah, there was this one time Auntie Dream made some sauteed eggplants for me and Neptune… It didn't end up well." The center of Arfoire's eyebrows moved downwards.

"What happened?"

"When Neptune ate some eggplants, he got a really bad stomach ache that lasted hours. At first we thought that the eggplants weren't cooked completely, but he ate them again some time later and… well his stomach hurt again." Everyone at the table felt a little worried for the past Neptune and his struggle with eggplants. Blanc ate half of his tangerine in one bite and continued his story. "After that, Neptune had a bad impression of eggplants and would disappear whenever her saw the purple fruit. One time I found him in the corner of our room, in the fetal position when Auntie Dream made brought some eggplants from the harvest." Arfoire looked at the eggplant on her fork and slowly put it back on the plate, showing signs of disgust.

Neptune pointed at the eggplant that Arfoire had put down.

* * *

"See? Eggplants are _evil! They're full of evil magic that'll turn you eyes purp-!_" The pudding lover was immediately bonked on the head by Noire, who then turned to Compa.

"Compa, what do you think happened to Origin-Neptune?" Compa sat up, letting go of IF.

"Hmm? From the sounds of it, Origin-Nep-Nep had an eggplant food allergy." IF looked at the Neptune nearby her.

"That makes me think, does Nep have an eggplant allergy? Since Origin-Nep is inside Nep and all that jazz." Arfoire shook her head.

"I don't think so."

"**No, the Neptune of this era is not allergic to eggplants. However, she may have an aversion to eggplants due to the Past Neptune's allergy to eggplants."** IF placed a hand on her chin, thinking about the possibility.

"That makes sense, sorta." As the group discussed whether Neptune's dislike of eggplants was genetic or not, Love and Peace slumped over to the table.

* * *

"Hey, Blanny… Sorry we're late!" Peace dropped onto the table dramatically as Love walked over to the food table to get… food, of course. Blanc stared at his friend, somewhat worried. He then moved the other half of his tangerine to Peace's mouth, which she promptly ate.

"What happened?" Love placed a plate of food in front of Peace and sat down next to her, digging into her own food.

"Peace took forever to get ready." Peace immediately shot up and pointed a weak finger at Love.

"No I didn't! Lovey-Dovey got us lost on the way here." Love attempted to hide her blush and stuttered her retort.

"Hey!" As the two began to have a blame game, Blanc tuned the two girls out, knowing that they'd make up without his concern. His little story about Neptune made him worry about his missing brother. _Where is he? Is he alright? _As he thought about this, the memory of how Neptune was thrown off the cliff surfaced.

_Those bastards… Centuro was it? Muoni...and that third one, that blasted Neptune off the edge, Gro-something? Grr. _Blanc looked out one of the many windows that lined the walls, revealing the setting sun. _I swear by the setting sun, as I did with the moon, I will find those bastards and __**kill them.**_

"Blanc?" Vert had noticed Blanc's face changing emotions constantly and was worried about her friend. The boy looked at the girl.

"What is it?" The soldier made a small smile.

"Don't be so upset." Blanc looked at her, confused.

"Upset? I wasn't sad."

"Huh? Then what were you thinking about?" Blanc's eyes hardened and he grit his teeth.

"**Revenge."** The table turned silent and GC looked his son.

"Blanc, it's not healthy to think like that at your age." Blanc sighed and rested his head on his hand.

"I guess so, but I can't really help it. With my brother missing and all…" Love exhaled and patted Blanc on the back.

"Don't worry, Blanc. We'll get back at them, and this time you don't have to fight an uneven battle. We'll be right beside you!"

"And Nep-Nep too!" Love laughed at her friend's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, and Nep too." Blanc smiled, thankful that he had someone to look after him. After that, the table of six began to eat once more.

Well into dinner, an official-looking person walked into the mess hall, looked around, saw GC and moved straight towards him. When the person appeared in GC's sight, he leaned his chair backwards and cupped his hand around his ear. From there, the person leaned forward and whispered into his ear. When the person stopped whispering, she moved away from GC and the general gave her nod and the girl left immediately.

GC stood up, looking at the people at his table.

"Sorry everyone, but I've got to go. Arfoire, you're needed too."

"General, but you're not finis-" As Vert looked at GC's plate, she realized that the plate was empty. "But Arfoir-"

Arfoire stood up as well, her empty plate in her hands.

"I'm done as well, convenient." Vert looked at the two, confused. She could have sworn there was still a moderate amount of food on their plates. Arfoire winked at the soldier, while GC grinned at her.

"Soldier, you going to need to learn how to eat fast." With those words, the general and tactician left. The four remaining at the table bade them goodbye.

Blanc placed his eating utensils down, patting his full belly. Vert wiped her lips with a napkin and turned to the two childhood friends. Both Love and Peace had gotten seconds, as did Blanc but the boy had gotten more tangerines, so he finished quickly.

The soldier then turned to the boy.

"Blanc." The boy stared at the girl as she suddenly became bashful. "D-D-Do you have a dream?" Blanc blinked and leaned against his chair.

"Not anymore."

"Anymore?"

"Yeah, I already fulfilled my dream: Finding my dad." Vert made a sound of awe. "So, what will you do now?" Blanc looked up to the ceiling.

"I don't really know. But I do have a goal: I'm going to find Neptune and bring him back, even if I have to go to the underworld to do it." Vert looked at Blanc, concerned.

"Now, now, don't say it like that." In order to change the mood, Vert looked towards the other two. "Peace and Love, what are your dreams?" Peace raised her hand into the air.

"I wanna be doctor!" Love and Blanc looked at her strangely.

"Aren't you an inventor already?"

"That doesn't mean I can't be a doctor!" Peace pouted. The three laughed and then Love decided to tell the others her dream.

"As for me, I want to create an organization that will protect the world once we end this war."

* * *

IF placed a thoughtful finger on her cheek.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Arfoire stared blankly at the _Guild agent_.

"What do you think?"

* * *

"That's ambitious." Blanc grinned at Love and then turned to Vert.

"So how about you? What's your dream?" Vert didn't even take a second to hesitate before her eyes sparkled. Suddenly, Blanc felt like stepped on a landmine, but instead of explosives, the trap released passion.

"I want get _married_ and _have a family_."

* * *

Everyone in the party covered their eyes.

"MY EYES!"

"IT'S TOO BRIGHT!"

The only ones that weren't blinded by Origin-Vert's innocence were Histoire, Arfoire, Compa, Rom, Ram and Falcom. However, Arfoire did stick out her tongue, apparently the innocence being too sweet for her.

* * *

"Oh yeah, come to think of it." Blanc looked at the sparkling Vert. "Didn't you talk to me about finding your true love once?" Vert nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes. In fact, I actually have a romanticized idea of my dream husband!" Blanc looked at his cup. He had finished his drink some time ago. With a sigh, he put his hand on his head once more. It was going to be a long one, he could somehow feel it in his bones. "He's going to caring and loving. Also, he's going to always be there and he won't have to look at my body to love me and-"

Love tuned into the chat and then immediately tuned out, not wanting to be a part of this conversation. Peace, on the other hand, went to get more food.

"Peace aren't you going to get fat from all that?"

"Lovey, don't worry~. You know I don't get fat from eating." Everyone ignored that statement for good reason and Vert continued to bombard Blanc with her perfect family.

"I'd love to have two children, twins if possible. Also, I'd like to live in a simple yet peaceful house that has two stories and-" Love heard Blanc groan and turned to Peace.

"You might want to eat quickly. I don't think Blanc can handle the innocence that is Major Vert any longer." Peace sweatdropped.

"Y-You might be right..."

"I'd also like to have my wedding in my hometown and-"

* * *

"Ah, I'm stuffed~." Eventually, the group of four finished eating for the night and Vert guided them back to their rooms.

"These are our rooms here." Love pointed to the two doors next to each other. Vert put her hand to her chin, thinking hard.

"What's wrong, Vert?" The soldier shook her head and turned to Blanc.

"Nothing, it's just that…" She pointed past the boy, and behind him was room with a white door. "That's your room." Love grinned and Peace smiled.

"Convenient." With those words, the three bid Vert a goodnight and went into their respective rooms.

Blanc closed the curtains to his window. The sun had set and night fall had come, letting the stars to pop out one by one. The boy let out a yawn before walking to his bag and taking out a spare set of clothes, taking them out and putting them on, leaving his used clothes on the ground. He folded Neptune's coat neatly and placing it on his desk. Blanc decided to go to sleep, waiting for the day that he could return the coat to it's rightful owner.


	23. Green and White: Preparation

Chapter 6: Preparation

"**Hmm. It seems that there will be another nighttime. Would you like it if I sped up the night?" **Everyone in the party agreed. "**This will take three minutes."** In an instant, the slow rising and falling of Blanc's sleeping body moved three times faster, and then three times more, and three times more.

As Blanc watched her past incarnation sleep in a sped up state, she gripped her head, closing her eyes and trembling.

* * *

**Whe...a...I?**

Vert noticed that the CPU she sat next was shaking and looked over concerned.

"Are you okay, Blanny?"

**...rt? …o…**

Almost immediately hearing Vert's voice, the pain in the girl's head disappeared. Blanc sat up and looked to see her friends looking at her, worry etched into their faces.

"Yes. I'm fine now. Sorry for making you worry." Blanc looked at her hands and put them together. _What was that voice?_

* * *

Blanc woke up to the sound his father's voice and looked up to see GC sitting on his bed.

"Morning son." Blanc made a loud yawn, not attempting to stop it.

"Morning." GC tossed a pile of clothing at his son while he yawned.

"Don't yawn in front of people. It's weird to look into your mouth." GC chuckled as Blanc made an annoyed grunt. "Get dressed. I have something to talk about later."

Blanc rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and got out of bed, tripping over the clothes he had worn yesterday. Upon seeing this, GC attempted to hold back laughter. He failed. Blanc stood, staring at his father in annoyance. As he laughed, GC bent over and reached under the bed. He revealed that there was a drawer under the bed.

"You can put your clothes here. There are other drawers if you want to organize your things." Blanc yawned once more.

"Thanks, Father." Blanc took his clothes out his bag and tossed them haphazardly into the drawers. GC sweatdropped at his son's sloppiness.

"Oh, you don't have a basket for your dirty clothes, do you?" Blanc shook his head. "Alright, I'll have someone bring one over. Just put your dirty clothes into the corner over there." GC's son piled his clothes in a corner near his bed. "Come on, get dressed now."

Blanc unfolded the clothes that he had been given. He had a white shirt that had brown 'X's down the middle of his shirt, imitating buttons. The shirt had brown triangle-like shapes that lined the collar. He was also given white shorts that had brown 'X's around the waistline. Finally, he was given a belt that made an 'X', in a similar fashion to the ribbon he was given by Peace. Putting them on, Blanc walked over to his desk, where kept Neptune's coat. Throwing the coat over his shoulders, Blanc realized that if he zipped up the coat then his new outfit would be covered due to the coat now reaching above his knees. So the boy left his brother's clothing unzipped. Grabbing _La Magie de l'Histoire_ off the desk, he placed it into the bag that was next to it and slung it over his shoulder.

"Alright," Blanc turned to his father. "Let's get some food." GC nodded and walked out the door, his son following him.

* * *

**Fa...er…hy…re…ou?**

The voice appeared in Blanc's head again, except that she didn't get a headache this time. However, she did feel something in her heart. The CPU of Lowee placed her hand to her heart, trying to placate it. _My heart… Why does it feel… sad?_

* * *

When the two exited Blanc's room, they ran into two more people.

"Ah, so you've woken up as well, Ms. Love and Miss. Inventor." Love put a hand on her hip while Peace stretched her arms and let out a yawn.

"How could we not with you knocking on the door?" Blanc chuckled as Love continued complaining. "Geez, you knocked so loud that I nearly had a heart attack…" As Love berated GC's style of waking up people. Peace slid over to Blanc and stared at him sleepily.

"Blanny," She looked at his clothes under Neptune's jacket. "You're clothes are nice." She leaned closer to Blanc. "I want new clothes too…" As this was said, GC and Love moved closer to the two, Love finished with her complaints.

"Let's get some food." The three nodded and followed after Blanc's father, two of them not wanting to get lost again.

* * *

**...ove...Pea… Wh...s...oin...n?**

Blanc gritted her teeth. This time her headache was returning again. The girl pressed her hands against her temples, doubling over. Once the pain faded away, the CPU sat up. Luckily, no had seen her this time. Blanc closed her eyes in frustration. _What's happening to me?_

* * *

GC and the other three walked into the room, finding that room was barely full. Blanc narrowed his eyes and turned to his father.

"Father, there's almost no one here." He gestured to the room. "Why are we here so early?" GC locked eyes with his son.

"Would you believe me if I said that the food's better when you get here early?"

"No." GC laughed. The man looked around the room and found a head of blonde hair.

"Looks like someone has a table for us." Walking over to the table filled with food, the group took their servings, Peace took at least two full plates, and went over to the table. Once they were close enough, the lone person at the table GC pointed out turned out to be Vert, eating a small bowl of porridge. "Morning Major."

Looking up, Vert saw the four people at coming over and nodded in their direction.

"Good morning, General. Ms. Love, Ms. Peace," She took a second before addressing Blanc, using the time to stare into his eyes. "Blanc." The boy raised an eyebrow at the soldier.

"What? No honorific for me?" Vert broke eye contact and let the rest sit around the table. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Blanc sat down as well and began eating his breakfast.

* * *

**Ver… hat's… er…bu...hy...i...he…?**

Once again, Blanc didn't get a headache from hearing the voice this time. Instead she felt… longing? _These aren't my feelings. So, whose are they?_

* * *

About thirty minutes of eating, GC looked up, his plate empty.

"Alright, now that I'm full. I want to talk to you four about something." Love looked up from her plate.

"What is it?"

"It's about Neptune." Everyone but Vert stopped eating. Blanc stared his father straight in the eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Tell us!"

* * *

**Nep...ne? But...e's...alr...gt...no…**

At this point, Blanc realized something: The longer this part of the story continued. The louder and clearer the voice got. Now she could tell certain characteristics of the voice: It was a male voice and he sounded like a young man. _Could this voice be…? Big Bro's…_

* * *

"Calm down, son." GC took a deep breath. "The scouts I sent to look at the cliffside where we met up have returned." Blanc edged closer to his father.

"And?"

"They reported that there was no body at the bottom of the cliff, which is a good sign." Blanc's hands slammed the table and the boy stood, glaring at his father.

"_Good!? How is that __**good**__!?"_ Immediately, Blanc felt the quick tap of a metal object on top of his head. The boy turned around to see Arfoire, spoon in one hand and a bowl in the other.

"Kid, you're getting too emotional." Arfoire sat down, crossing one leg over the other. "Think about it in a strategic way: You all assumed that Tari sent soldiers to capture this girl, correct?" Arfoire gestured to the girl who had returned to stuffing her face with food. "If that's the case, why would they want some random kid who would get in the way? They'd rather just kill him and be done with it. Also, you said it was nighttime when you met up with General GC and Major Vert. So, it wouldn't make sense for them to go check to see if there was body, rather, they would want to recover any of their missing troops and regroup. Also, that steep cliff is a border to another country, and Tari wouldn't want to end up invading another country without needing to."

"Country?"

"Yes, the country that neighbors Macrosharp and Zega, Zoni. If you don't know, Zega is your home country." Blanc mumbled quietly about knowing that but Arfoire ignored him. "Yes and under that cliff is a river. A river that is neatly hidden by trees and is deep enough to carry a person, but shallow enough to stop a person from being completely submerge them."

"A river?" Blanc furrowed his eyebrows. "What do trees and river have to do with-!" The boy's eyes widened. Arfoire smirked.

"Getting wiser eh?" Arfoire turned to the general. "Sir, please continue with what the scouts reported." GC nodded.

"Yes. The scouts reported that some of the trees below had some broken branches, as if something, or someone had fallen through. Also, the trees in had the damaged branches happened to cover the river that our tactician was talking about. The scouts took a closer look... " Blanc gripped onto the table with all his might and everyone but the tactician and general was afraid that he might break it through grip alone. "They saw that the trunks of the damaged trees were soaked." Blanc's shoulders dropped and he sat down.

"Now, those trees cover most of the sunlight, so even a day of sunshine can't evaporate a lot of water in that area. Here's the clincher: That river flows straight into Zoni."

"Which means?"

"It's highly likely that Neptune has fallen into Zoni." Blanc let out a sigh of relief and his eyes ignited.

"Well, what are waiting for? Let's go over there an-"

"Not yet." Blanc looked at his father in disbelief.

"What?"

"I'm not sending you over there." Before Blanc could speak, GC continued speaking. "I want you to train." Blanc tensed up and looked at his father with both interest and seriousness.

"Go on."

"I will be sending you north to the land called Mimlenbo. The home country of Neptune's mother, your mother, and our tactician here. Mimlenbo is famous for training strong magicians and is the country that first created the technique of _infusion._" Blanc nodded, holding onto every word that came out of his father's mouth. "Accompanying you is Major Vert, as she should practice as well. Arfoire and…" GC turned to see a woman, at least in her twenties, walk up to the table and give a salute.

She had deep red hair that flowed down to her back. She wore clothes with a similar color scheme to Arfoire's except her clothing was different. She wore a black flak jacket and a white breastplate. She wore a belt around her stomach area since her shorts created a midriff.

* * *

"She looks like Falcom!" Neptune once again, pointed out the similarities between the woman and their adventurer friend. Falcom scratched her cheek bashfully.

"Aw, that's flattering."

* * *

"This woman is also a native of Mimlenbo." The woman dropped her salute and gave the group a warm smile.

"My name is NES. I hope that we will get along together." Blanc nodded and the girls returned the smile.

* * *

**No…**

Suddenly, Blanc stood up, gripping her head. She walked away from the table and sofas, doubling over in pain.

"Blanc?" Vert ran over to the CPU, her twin sisters right behind her.

* * *

"I hope so as well." GC nodded and turned to Blanc.

"Alright, You will be leaving in a week and…"

* * *

**This can't be…**

Blanc looked at Vert, her eyes widening.

"No. No. No…" Vert gripped Blanc's arm.

"Blanc? What's happening?" Blanc's mouth slowly shifted from pain to anger.

* * *

"I pray that your training will be a success." Blanc grinned.

"Don't worry, Father. It'll be fi-"

* * *

Blanc threw Vert aside, her hands leaving her head and balling into fists. The girl stood up, glaring at Vert.

"**YOU'RE NOT VERT!"** Suddenly, Blanc gripped her head in pain. This time screaming. "**WHO ARE YOU!? wHAt ArE yOU DOiNg In mY…" **Blanc doubled over once more and she kneeled onto the ground.

Vert and the others tried to approach Blanc, but as soon as she got into an arm's length. Blanc shot up, her eyes watering and as wide as they could possibly be.

"**GET OUT OF MY HEAD!?"** A light enveloped Blanc, literally shattering the scene they were watching, revealing Histoire. The tome fairy was shocked. However, she could make no claims of confusion nor could anyone as the light grew and enveloped them as well, causing the whole room to turn…

White.

**To be continued in…**

**Intermissions**


	24. Intermission Nine: White

Intermission Nine: White

Once the light faded, the party checked their surroundings. They were in a pitch black area. Neptune looked at her companions, Histoire had returned to them but, Blanc…

She wasn't there.

"Where are we?" Noire looked around, disturbed by the eerie darkness.

"W-We didn't die, did we?" Ram put her hands on her cheeks, fear flooding into her face. Rom gripped onto her twin sister, shaking her head and attempting to calm her sister while at the same time assuring herself that she wasn't dead. Falcom crossed her arms and sighed.

"That's a shame. I hoped that I would get to go on a lot of adventures and live peacefully." Neptune shook her head.

"No. I don't we've game overed." Everyone looked at the purplette.

"What do you mean, Nep-Nep?" Compa stared at her friend, who crossed her arms and seemed to be..._thinking_.

"This has happened before. Well, not you girls, but to me." Neptune received looks of confusion. "You see. One time while I was asleep, I ended up in a dark place sorta like this." The CPU of Planeptune gestured to her surroundings. "Then all of a sudden the area flooded with color and made a pre-Basilicom building thing!" Before anyone could question the girl, light shined from below then, blinding them once again.

Everyone looked up, somewhat annoyed by the flashes of light. However, they immediately noticed that the scenery had changed.

They stood in a large courtyard that was surrounded by stone walls. There was no ceiling and the sunlight shined all over the area and there was a cloudless bright blue sky. In the middle of each wall was a large archway that led to darkness. In the corners of the courtyard were trees, and in the middle of the area, on her knees was...

"Blanc!" The party rushed over to the girl. Blanc was panting heavily, sweat moving down her face and body. Her coat was wrinkled and had falled down to her elbows. Her hat wasn't on her head and instead was on the ground nearby her. Her hammer was in her hand, the head of the weapon lying flat on the ground. As they got closer and closer to her, bruises and bits of ice could be seen all over her body.

Upon seeing the girl's condition, everyone sprinted faster towards the CPU of Lowee. As soon as they got into hearing distance, Neptune, Vert, Rom and Ram ran bumped into something, the rest of the party stopping short of the obstacle.

"Nepu!" Neptune slid down the wall while Vert pulled herself away from whatever was blocking them from Blanc. For some unknown reason, Rom and Ram stuck onto the obstacle, as if they decided to cling onto it and try to phase through it to get to their sister. Vert tapped her fist onto the object that blocked them.

"What is this?" Histoire and Arfoire approached them and placed their hands onto the obstacle, closing their eyes. After a moment, Arfoire opened her eyes, removed her hand from the object and turned towards the tome fairy beside her.

"Do you feel it, Histoire?" The tiny fairy nodded after three seconds.

"Yes. Although it is invisible, this is a barrier." Arfoire nodded, confirming the fairy's claim.

"It is." Noire now walked up to the barrier, her Hero's Sword in hand.

"Hmph, a barrier huh?" The black haired girl raised her weapon into the air. "Leave it to the CPU of Lastation to take care of this!" She swung her weapon downwards and struck the wall… and harmlessly bounced off. In fact, the momentum from her swing returned full force, knocking the girl off her feet and onto the ground. "Wha-!"

"This barrier is strong, any normal strike would bounce off of it." Noire looked at Arfoire in disbelief.

"This is weapon that was meant to _kill_ the Original Goddess, reforged by the people of Lastation! How could something like that not be able to chip an invisible barrier!?" Arfoire stared at the barrier, placing her hand on it once more.

"This barrier incredibly strong. In fact, I can tell that this barrier was cast by an ancient type of magic." Before any of the girls could question her, Histoire picked up for her.

"Centuries ago, people used a vastly different type of magic than the ones we use today. We still use mana points, or MP, as it is a requirement. However, back then there was another requirement: a person's will."

"Will?" Nepgear looked at the fairy.

"Yes. In the past, no matter how weak the spell actually was, the caster's will affected and either strengthened or weakened a spell. However, there was drawback to this requirement. Using spells over and over again without any form of buffer, such as a staff or weapon, will cause a person's will and health to deteriorate. Which is why nowadays, most people use spells with some form of help." Compa stared at the tome fairy in awe, but IF felt something strange.

"Sorry to end such a powerful explanation, but how did you remember all of that information so quickly?" Histoire shook her head.

"By myself, it would have taken at most three days to gather all the necessary information. Arfoire," Histoire now gestured to the silver haired woman, tome in her hands. "found the information for me, while I interpreted and relayed it to you."

"Wait a sec, how is Arfoire holding tome when you-!" IF just realized something randomly important. The reason why Arfoire was able to look through the tome despite Histoire normally sitting on it was because Histoire was sitting on Arfoire's shoulders, reminiscent of how Neptune had the Histy doll on her head for part of their journey.

"Aww~! Histy's like a wittle dolly! I want her to sit on my shoulders too!" IF sweatdropped when Vert suddenly gasped.

"Everyone look!" Vert pointed to where Blanc sat. A figure stood in front of the girl, who scooted away from the figure. It was a male with brown hair. He wore a coat similar to Blanc's except that the coat covered his shoulders and had a hood, the ends of the hood covered in fur. On his head was something similar to a beret, except that there was no point at the top. It was white with blue lines moving through the upper part of the beret and the crown part of the beret was brown with a lighter shade of brown that went through the darker brown in a tiny line.

The young man was about Compa's height and in his right hand was a stick. The stick was about as long as the young man was tall and it was black in color. He raised it effortlessly and spun it in his hand. Using his other hand, he gripped the stick in both hands and thrust at Blanc, who bounced away from the attack, at the cost of letting go of her weapon.

"Blanc!" Arfoire placed both her hands on the barrier.

"Rom, Ram, Histoire. We're going to try and weaken the barrier with our own magic!" The three nodded their heads and the silver haired woman turned towards the others. "You girls are going to attempt to break through the barrier, alright?" Immediately, the girls summoned their weapons. The only person who didn't summon her weapon and stood staring at the wall, was Neptune.

"Nep, what are you doing? Hurry up and pull out your weapon!" Neptune didn't respond, instead she looked at the wall with an empty stare. "Nep? Nep!"

"No time, just leave her alone!" Noire shouted at the guild agent. The four magic users began using their powers to slowly weaken the barrier. Arfoire then signaled the remaining girls to attack, their efforts barely chipping the invisible barrier.

Somehow, the young man noticed this and turned around, revealing more of him and his outfit. His hair reached just above his neck and he wore a white shirt that had brown 'X's down the middle of his shirt, imitating buttons. The shirt had brown triangle-like shapes that lined the collar. He was also wore white shorts that had brown 'X's around the waistline and had a belt that made an 'X'. Around his neck was a light blue ribbon with a gem holding it together, making a choker. The young man had deep blue eyes, identical to Blanc's.

He stared at the party, attempting to break through his barrier and shook his head. Turning back to see that Blanc was now standing, hammer in hand.

Blanc swung the weapon at her opponent, only for the young man to sidestep out of the way and use his weapon to strike Blanc's hand. The counter caused Blanc to drop her weapon once more and the stick swiftly moved from Blanc's hand to her legs. The young man swept his weapon under Blanc's feet, dropping her onto the ground. Blanc's opponent raised his weapon into the air once more, this time a glint of light flashing off the end of it. Blanc stared at the weapon in horror.

Arfoire watched, realizing what was going to happen to Blanc. She looked over to the progress of the others. By focusing on one spot, they had made a tiny crack on the barrier. _No! We've weakened the barrier by so much! How could have their attacks done nothing by now!_ Out of the corner of her, she saw Neptune approach the crack in the wall, shoving a Noire and IF aside.

"_**Move!" **_Neptune raised her left hand into the air, balling it into a fist. When Neptune swung her fist at the barrier, Arfoire saw her eyes.

They weren't the carefree and jolly eyes of the Neptune that had saved her from the Original Goddess' corruption.

These eyes…

They were sharp and serious.

Just like…

Neptune's fist made contact with the barrier, causing the crack to enlarge and the wall to shatter. She stood up, falling backwards into a surprised IF. However, as Neptune fell backwards. Another figure was immediately in her place.

This new figure was as tall as Vert, had purple hair with a messier version of Neptune's. He wore an exact replica of Neptune's jacket. _No._ He wore the original version of Neptune's jacket and white pants. A headset with Neptune's d-pads rested on his shoulders.

"What?!"

"Who's that!?"

As everyone made claims of confusion and surprise, Histoire and Arfoire were the only ones to look at the young man in front of them with disbelief.

"Neptune?" The person didn't answer them, instead crouching into a sprinting position and speeding towards Blanc and her attacker as if he wasn't touching the ground. Summoning a katana in his left hand, the young man swung his blade.

* * *

Blanc stared at the magical tip in horror as the young man who looked exactly like her thrusted the weapon, aiming for her heart. She closed her eyes, fearing the worst. _I'm sorry, Rom… Ram… Big Bro... _

The sound of metal hitting wood filled her ears as well as the sound of the ground being impaled.

She opened her eyes to see someone she thought she wouldn't have been able to see for centuries.

Neptune, her big brother, the one who practically taught her everything she knew, had redirected her attacker's strike with his sword. The young man grinned at Blanc.

"Hey there. Kept you waiting huh?" Neptune pressed harder against the attacker's weapon, forcing the opponent's weapon out of the ground and pushing him away from Blanc. He stood up straight, his body in front of Blanc's sight. He turned to look at Blanc. "You might have to wait a little bit longer, alright?" Blanc nodded and Neptune took a couple steps away from Blanc and towards the other young man.

"What's… What the?" Neptune stared at his brother and frowned.

"What the hell, Blanc? Why are you attacking my students like that?" Blanc glared at his brother.

"Neptune… I have no idea how you're here, but I do know this." Blanc pointed his staff at the girl behind his brother.

"That girl stole my body." Neptune sighed and scratched his head.

"Lemme guess, I can't persuade you with words so I'm gonna have to fight you, right?" Blanc nodded and Neptune shrugged his shoulders. "Figured." Neptune pointed his Trinity Blade at Blanc. "Well, let's make this fun." Blanc smirked.

"Count on it."

* * *

The party finally got close enough, seeing them clearly now. Neptune had fallen unconscious and IF carried her on her back.

"Oh my, they almost look identical to Neptune and Blanc!"

"Sister!"

"Sis…" Rom and Ram ran over to their sister, giving her a hug. Blanc slowly stood up and hugged them back.

Arfoire stared at the two brothers, finally reunited after centuries. She quietly guided the party and the newly added Blanc to the sidelines. Noire looked at Arfoirem confused.

"Arfoire, what's going on?"

"Don't worry. It's just two brothers having a little sibling rivalry. That's all."


	25. Intermission Ten: Staff vs Hammer!

Intermission Ten: Duel! Staff vs. Hammer!

Blanc opened her eyes to find herself lying down in the darkness. She sat up to look around, finding no one around her. The CPU moved to her feet and began to wander around, looking someone, anyone, that she knew.

With every step that she took, Blanc could not find a way out of the darkness that surrounded her. Although she looked calm and collected on the outside, inside she began to feel uneasy and lost.

Taking one more step, Blanc tensed up and looked around. All she could see was the darkness.

**Hmph. So you can sense me. **The CPU turned around to see a young man that looked exactly like her with a few minor details to his hairstyle and outfit. Almost immediately, Blanc recognized who he was. She had been watching parts of his life this whole time.

"You're…" The young man crossed his arms and stared at the girl.

"**I'm Blanc Lowee. Son of GC and Advance Lowee. Adoptive son of Dream and Cast Planeptune. Adoptive brother of Neptune Planeptune. And…" **His eyes looked at the ground and then stared at Blanc once more. "**Something else you don't need to know." **The CPU noticed that the person in front of her had a blush. It was faint, but his cheeks were stained a light pink. He switched back to his colder stare and frowned at Blanc. "**Now tell me, who are you?"**

Feeling the hostility, coupled with the fact that he had approached closer to the girl, leaning close to her face, Blanc hesitated before answering.

"...I'm Blanc, the CPU of Lowee." The young man's eyebrow furrowed and he moved out of Blanc's personal bubble.

"**CPU?" **The other Blanc narrowed his eyes. "**I have no idea what the hell that means, but…" **He turned away from Blanc and took three steps forward. Blanc turned his head to look at the CPU behind him.

Their surroundings lighted up with a bright white light. Blanc had to cover her eyes due to the light. When she could see again, the area had turned into courtyard. Before she could look around, a bo staff pointing straight at her face. She met the eyes of her oppressor, seeing fire burning in his blue eyes.

"**I don't like that you have both my first and last name in your title."** Blanc stepped back, sweat rolling down her neck.

"What's wrong with having the same name?" The young man lowered his weapon.

"**It's not just the name." **Blanc raised his hand in a gesture of explanation and complaint. "**You have my face, my clothes, and…" **Blanc glared at the girl in front of her. "**My life."** Blanc swiftly approached the CPU, thrusting his weapon at her. The other Blanc tried to step out of the way, but her opponent swung his weapon immediately after she dodged it, knocking her to the side.

Blanc rolled along the ground, eventually stopping. She looked up to see the other Blanc jumping up above her, his weapon in both hands, ready to pierce her from above. Pushing herself up, Blanc used her backwards momentum to dodge the attack and summoned her hammer.

Upon seeing the weapon, Origin-Blanc pulled his bo staff out of the ground and scoffed.

"**A hammer? Really?" **An anger vein popped out on Blanc's forehead and now she glared at her counterpart.

"What's wrong with a hammer, punk?" Origin-Blanc sneered at the girl.

"**Nothing."** Blanc narrowed her eyes. "**It's just that, a tiny girl with a giant hammer isn't really cute."**

"Coming from the person who's compensating, I don't think you have room to talk!" She swung her hammer, aiming for his head. As her hammer was about to land, Blanc pulled up his weapon and blocked the attack despite only hold the weapon with one hand. "Wha-!" Before she could even make a statement, Blanc was pushed back. Her feet creating skid marks as she slid across the ground.

"**Heh, you're strong." **Origin-Blanc spun his weapon in his hand before resting it on his shoulder. "**But not strong enough." **Blanc could feel her blood boiling from the insults.

"Not strong? NOT STRONG!?" Blanc stomped her foot on the ground and moved her hammer behind her, gaining leverage. "I'm a goddess, damn you! _Tranzerin Trombe_!" Blanc spun towards her opponent, using her weapon as form of keeping momentum. She moved closer and closer to Origin-Blanc, becoming a human tornado. She moved around her opponent in a circle, attempting to hit her opponent while rotating around him.

"_**Goddess!?**_" Origin-Blanc spun his weapon in a similar fashion to Blanc but in the opposite direction, clashing and blocking blow strike for strike. After every attack was blocked, Blanc stopped spinning and hopped, throwing her arms over her head, momentarily flashing her panties and swinging her hammer down once more. Origin-Blanc sidestepped once Blanc threw up her weapon and dodged her attack. He then sweeped his weapon under her feet, tripping her. As she fell, he thrusted his palm at her and his hand shined with magic. "_**Absolute Zero!"**_

A pillar of ice erupted from under Blanc, throwing the girl into the air. Origin-Blanc placed his hand on the pillar of ice.

"_**Galeforce!"**_ Sharp winds cut the ice into tiny pieces and are flung at the girl by the continuous stream of wind. Seeing the pieces of ice flying towards her, Blanc extends her arm out.

"_Gefahrilctern_!" Summoning an array of magic balls in front of her, Blanc swings her hammer at them, sending them hurtling towards the ice. Magic and ice collide, negating each other in light blue bursts. However, leftover ice emerges from the burst clouds and strike Blanc, leaving bits of ice on her skin and clothes.

Origin-Blanc jumped through the clouds, his bo staff in both hands, ready to swing. Blanc puts a hand to her heart.

"An almighty guard! _Andis Support!_" A light surrounded Blanc as Origin-Blanc closed in. He swung downwards smacked the girl towards the ground. Blanc smashed into the ground, kicking up dirt. Her counterpart landed in front of the cloud and huffed.

"**Not even worth it."**

"_Zerstorung!_"

"**What?" **Blanc's hammer moved through the smoke and stuck Origin-Blanc in the stomach, blasting him away. The hammer's swing kicked up wind that removed the dirt cloud, revealing a somewhat dirty, but otherwise okay Blanc. She dusted off the dirt on her coat and looked to see Origin-Blanc falling towards the ground. She smiled at the sight, but her face turned into one that had darkness cover her eye,s except for one that turned into a bright red dot, in a split second.

"_Getter Ravine!_" Blanc clenched one hand, swung her hammer behind her with the other hand and sprinted towards her falling opponent. As soon as he was about to hit the ground, she hopped into the air and swung down, smashing Origin-Blanc into the ground. This created a small crater out of the pieces of earth that shifted up from Blanc's attack. The crater began to shine and powerful light poured out of the crater, raising some of the moved earth in the process.

Blanc jumped out of the crater she created and looked at her handiwork. Suddenly the ground shook and dome shaped barrier erupted from the crater, shoving all the pieces of earth away, revealing Origin-Blanc. He looked more annoyed than before. However, he dropped his look and replaced with a cocky one. Origin-Blanc raised his free hand towards the CPU and gestured that Blanc approach him in a mocking manner.

"**What's wrong? That all you got?" **Blanc glowered at him.

"You…" She gripped her hammer with both arms. "_There's no use in begging for your life!" _She ran towards her opponent and swung her with all her might. " _Hard Break!" _Origin-Blanc was knocked aside and Blanc slammed the ground, cracks moving towards him. The cracks shined light brown and when under him, a giant slab of earth shot him into the air. As Origin-Blanc recovered from the attack, Blanc spun in a similar fashion to Tranzerin Trombe and released her grip on her weapon, sending it flying at him.

Origin-Blanc smirked and ducked under the flying mallet and the weapon flew around and landed in front of its master, who happened to be running towards it. Upon grabbing her weapon, Blanc jumped as high she could into the air and made multiple front flips.

"_I'll end you!" _She fell towards her opponent, still flipping, as she made one last flip, her eyes were covered in darkness once more, revealing the red dot.

"**Idiot." **As Blanc's attack connected, Origin-Blanc dodged to the right and gave her a roundhouse kick. Blanc fell onto the ground, shock on her face. She attempted to stand up but Origin-Blanc pinned her down by stepping on her back. The girl tried to swing her hammer at her counterpart but he used his bo staff to knock away the weapon. "**Did you really think that you had the upperhand for a second?" **He removed his foot from Blanc's back and struck the girl with his weapon.

Origin-Blanc then grabbed the CPU by the back of her coat and tossed her aside. Blanc got onto her knees, crawling towards her hammer. The young man raised his hand and summoned another pillar of ice to launch the girl into the air. He then spun and thrusted his bo staff, smacking and jabbing the girl, who tried to protect herself with her arms. After one last jab, Origin-Blanc sparta kicked the CPU, sending her towards her weapon. Blanc struggled to stand, only managing to get on her knees and hold onto her hammer to feel some form of protection.

"**Not much of a threat." **Origin-Blanc raised his weapon into the air, spun in his hand and grabbed it with both hands to thrust it at Blanc. Blanc used some of her remaining stamina to flop out of the attack just in time, but she had to let go of her hammer once more. Origin-Blanc smirked at the weakened CPU. "**Are you really a Goddess?" **Blanc glared at him. Suddenly, Origin-Blanc looked distracted and looked behind him.

Somewhat away from the two, there was a barrier. Blanc could see a group of people trying to break the barrier… they were…

"**So, they've woken up. Seems like they're trying to break that barrier."** Origin-Blanc shook his head. "**It doesn't matter. After I finish with you, I'm gonna take care of them." **Blanc froze.

The thought of her little sisters…

her friends…

...getting hurt by this guy…

angered her.

She was protected by her brother.

But, now…

Now she's an _older_ sister.

If that bastard's going to lay a hand on her beloved sisters.

_Then she's going to kill him!_

Blanc stood up, energy returning to her. Grabbing her hammer, she glared at Origin-Blanc.

"_Hey, jackass!"_ Origin-Blanc turned around to look at see Blanc standing. She swung her hammer at her counterpart. "_Leave my sisters out of this!" _Her opponent grinned.

"**Seems like you still got some spirit." **Despite gaining some confidence and energy, Origin-Blanc sidestepped out of the way, sweeping his bo staff under Blanc's feet. Once more the girl fell to the floor, and this time her opponent stood above her. "**But that won't save you, will it?" **Origin-Blanc's staff began to glow as he raised the weapon over his head. The edge of beginning to shine with magic. The magic then formed into a tipped spike, making the staff take the form of a spear. "**Good bye, goddess."**

Blanc closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

_Rom…_

_Ram…_

_Big Bro…_

_I'm sorry…_

_I don't think I'll make it. I just wish…_

_That you'll be safe..._

The sound of metal hitting wood filled her ears as well as the sound of the ground being impaled.

Blanc opened her eyes. A figure stood in front of her, katana in hand. The said weapon in hand had struck Origin-Blanc's weapon from the side, redirecting the attack to the ground. Her savior turned to look at her, a grin on his face.

"Hey there, Kept you waiting huh?" Her big bro's voice filled her ears as he shoved her attacker away from her. Blanc nodded, her face containing a mixture of disbelief and relief at the same time. "You might have to wait a little bit longer, alright?" She nodded once more and Origin-Neptune walked away, confronting Origin-Blanc and taking her place.

The party had followed Origin-Neptune and ran towards Blanc. Rom and Ram, upon seeing their sister, held onto her as if this was the last time they'd see her.

"Sister!"

"Sis…!"

Blanc looked as her twin sisters hugged her. Remembering what might have happened to them, Blanc hugged her little sisters tightly. She could barely register that Arfoire had moved them away and was talking to Noire.

All she could care about right now was that she, Rom, and Ram were safe.


	26. Intermission Eleven: Promise

Intermission Eleven: Promise

Origin-Blanc and Origin-Neptune stared each other down, weapons pointed at each other.

"So, I doubt I can change your mind right now. Am I right?" Origin-Blanc stared at his brother.

"Of course. You know you can't beat me in an argument, Neptune. But there is another way you can stop me." He raised his weapon higher into the air. "This." Origin-Neptune grinned.

"Yeah, you're right." He straightened his arm out, then looked to the side. "Although I knew that already." Origin-Blanc narrowed his eyes.

"Then why'd you ask?" Origin-Neptune shrugged his shoulders.

"No reason." Origin-Blanc rolled his eyes.

"You could have just said that you wanted to make this fight as authentic as possible." The purple haired swordsman brightened up.

"Hey, that works!" Origin-Blanc facepalmed. After removing his hand from his face, Origin-Blanc sighed.

"Oh for- Neptune, be serious!"

"I am serious." Origin-Blanc growled while his friend laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll stop now." Almost immediately after saying those words, Origin-Neptune's face turned into a cold, yet amused look. He twisted his sword hand and aimed his weapon between Origin-Blanc's eyes.

"Alright! Let's get this started!" Origin-Neptune grinned.

"Everything I feel is in this sword!" His brother looked at him with a disturbed expression.

"That doesn't sound right." Origin-Neptune looked at his brother, annoyed.

"Hey, we just had a comedic relief discussion. No need for another one." Origin-Blanc chuckled and then shrugged.

"Whatever floats your boat." Origin-Blanc got into a fighting stance. "...Good. Come on!"

* * *

IF felt Neptune stirring and set the girl down.

"Everyone, Nep's waking up!" All eyes were directed to the CPU that was sitting up.

"Ugh, what happened?" Neptune put a hand to her face and squeezed her eyes shut. "It felt like I ate a pack of pudding, but didn't realize they were three years expired." Compa patted her friend's head.

"It's okay, Nep-Nep. Look." Compa pointed to the direction of the two battling brothers! Neptune's eyes lit up!

"OH! Duel boss battle!" Neptune threw her arms in the air. "This is gonna be rad!" The girl sat down, a buttered popcorn flavor pudding pack in her hands. Compa sat beside her, smiling brightly now that all of her friends were okay.

* * *

Origin-Neptune dashed at his brother, katana ready to strike. As he edged closer and closer, Origin-Blanc held his bo staff readily. Once he was in range, Origin-Neptune swung his weapon at his opponent, but immediately stopped and sidestepped to the right.

Not suspecting the fake out, Origin-Neptune followed up with a roundhouse kick and the attack connected with the white brother. Origin-Blanc staggered forward from the blow, but seemed unfazed. Next, Origin-Neptune hopped over his opponent's sweeping attack and swung down at his opponent's head. Origin-Blanc raised his hand at the blade and wind blasted out of it.

"_Galeforce!"_ Origin-Neptune's katana was pushed away from Origin-Blanc and then the owner of the blade backed away from the spellcaster. The spellcaster then aimed his hand at the swordfighter. "_Absolute Zero!"_ A pillar of ice erupted from under Origin-Neptune and the swordfighter had to jump out of the spell's range, creating even more distance between the two.

As soon as Origin-Neptune landed on his feet, Origin-Blanc pointed his hand at the ice.

"_Galeforce!"_ The wind cut up the ice and sent the pieces at Origin-Neptune. The swordfighter looked at the ice shards flying at him and shrugged. He then pulled his arm back and swung his katana at full strength. The oncoming ice shards immediately shattered after the swordsman swung his weapon.

More ice shards flew at the swordsman and Origin-Neptune swung his weapon multiple times, destroying the rest of the shards. When the ice dust cleared away, Origin-Blanc had vanished from his original position.

"_Pyre's Wrath!"_ The swordsman looked up to see his opponent high in the air. Out from under Origin-Neptune, fire erupted from under him. The swordsman rolled away before the spell could shoot out. As Origin-Neptune got to a standing position, Origin-Blanc was higher into the air.

"_Snowflake's Blizzard!"_ Ice bolts fired out of his hand, and he used the last bolt to propel him a little bit behind the swordsman. "_Burning Rage!"_ A fireball flew out of the caster's hand, growing in size as it moved closer to swordsman. As he fell towards the ground, Origin-Blanc aimed his hand at the sky. "_Thunder's Vanity!" _From the sky, lightning shot out of the sky without clouds, coming from a magic circle instead. The bolt dropped towards the swordsman.

With the ever growing giant fireball, the numerous ice bolts and the speeding lightning bolt, a total of three elemental spells moved toward Origin-Neptune. The swordsman stood still as the spells closed in on him. He raised his free arm high into the air and dropped onto a knee. Origin-Neptune then punched the ground with as much force as he arm could possibly muster. The spells immediately dissipated and shattered.

* * *

"Wha- What did he just do!?" Noire watched in amazement as the spells disappeared around Origin-Neptune and faded into nothing.

"The original Neptune had the ability to create shockwaves out of pure force, that's what he used to destroy the the shards of _Absolute Zero_ with his sword. By punching the ground as he did, Neptune can create a dome-shaped shockwave that can protect him from attacks or force opponents away." Noire widened her eyes.

"Doesn't that mean that Neptune can do that too?" If the Neptune she knew could do that, she wouldn't be able to comprehend what trouble she could get into.

"No. Although Neptune is the reincarnation of the original Neptune, we made sure that the CPUs would not be able to inherit most of their powers, only a small portion. For Neptune, she only physically inherited her original's speed, power and looks." Neptune tilted her head to the side.

"Wait, I actually fought other me." The entire party turned to the CPU, surprised.

"**What!?"** Neptune nodded.

"Yeah, he really beat me around. He even used my own moves against me." Arfoire narrowed her eyes and put a knuckle to her chin.

"It would not be wise to theorize how Neptune did that." Histoire had moved herself from Arfoire's head and back onto her tome. "I believe it would be in our best interests if we had asked him ourselves." Everyone agreed with the tome fairy, not wanting to make some absurd theory of what could have happened.

"Speaking of the original Neptune…" The party returned their attention to the battle ahead of them.

* * *

Origin-Blanc landed on the ground, unsurprised by the fact that his brother just stopped a barrage of his attacks. Instead, he smirked at his brother's ability.

"Heh, you've gotten better." As he said this, Origin-Neptune closed the distance and swung his sword. Origin-Blanc blocked the attack with his bo staff. As the two of the fought for dominance from the clash, the two had wide grins on their faces.

"You have too." The two backed away from each other. Origin-Neptune straightened and raised one hand, as if asking to shake hands. "I guess life has taught both a few things." Origin-Blanc grinned and stood up straight as well.

"How many years has it been since we fought like this?" Origin-Blanc casted _Burning Rage _again and Origin-Neptune destroyed it with a shockwave slash again. Out of the fading fire, the spellcaster emerged and attempted to strike his opponent.

"Uh, for you, two years. For me, two centuries plus two years." Origin-Neptune sidestepped once more but this time backflipped knocking Origin-Blanc's weapon into the air.

"Oh, well that's different. It's just you know…a lot of stuff has happened." The weaponless spellcaster attempted to reach for his weapon, but the swordsman chucked his weapon, spearing his opponent's weapon and sending them away from both of them. Raising an eyebrow, Origin-Blanc turned to his brother, seeing a mischievous grin on his face. "It's…"

"Yeah?" The spellcaster attempted to cast a spell at point blank range, but the swordsman uppercutted him in the stomach and the used his other hand to punch him in the face. Origin-Blanc stepped back, he then rubbed his cheek, grinning even wider.

"It's just different." Origin-Neptune exhaled relief but was kneed in the stomach by his opponent. He grabbed his opponent by the head and smashed his head with his own, causing both to reel back in pain. Origin-Neptune shook off the pain and let go his opponent, sparta-kicking him away from him.

"Yeah, it feels different for me too. Last time we fought, we're all serious and crap." Origin-Blanc slid on his feet and regained his footing.

"Aren't we serious right now?" The swordless swordsman grabbed his head.

"No." The spellcaster opened his right hand, magic gathering in his hand.

"Well, I wonder what it is." Origin-Neptune ran at his brother full speed.

"Does it matter? I am _so_ going to kick your ass!" As his opponent got closer, Origin-Blanc launched a small blast of ice magic at Origin-Neptune.

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No." Origin-Neptune backhanded the magic, the ball of energy exploding far away from them. "I'm gonna kick _your _ass!" The spellcaster tried to punch the swordsman, but the latter caught the former's attack with his hand. Out of instinct, the swordsman did the same thing, and the same result appeared. A huge grin was on Origin-Neptune's face.

"Oh ho ho, it's _on _now!" From then on the two would exchange blow for blow, some of their attacks containing elemental magic within them.

* * *

"Hey, isn't that _infus-_ whatever it's called?" Arfoire nodded and patted Neptune on the head.

"Yes, _infusion_. The original Blanc had taught his adoptive brother how to use it, although he would use it in moderation." The silver haired woman raised a finger. "In fact, _Infusion_ would be inherited by all of you. Why do think you girls have regular attacks with elemental affinities to them?" The party made a collective "Ooooooh." while the former tactician grinned with pride.

* * *

The two fighters pulled away from each other, bruised and bleeding from their hand to hand skirmish. Both of them panting and gasping for air.

"Hey, Neptune." Origin-Blanc placed his hands on his knees while Origin-Neptune was on one knee, his hand on the ground.

"Yeah?"

"I think…" Blanc's original took a deep breath and straightened himself. "We should end this." Origin-Neptune stood up as well, rubbing his neck.

"I think so too." Both young men raised their hands into the air, summoning their weapons. Origin-Blanc used his magic to create a spiked end on his bo staff and the two of them pointed their weapons at each other.

"Let's finish this, Neptune." Origin-Neptune laughed.

"It ain't over until the incredibly plump lady sings."

* * *

"What did he just say?" IF looked at Compa for confirmation. The peach haired nurse shrugged.

* * *

At once, the two rushed at each other, screaming at the top of their lungs. As they met, both fighters swung their weapons. After striking, the two stopped moving and stayed in the same position.

After the two hadn't moved for a minute, Blanc looked to Histoire.

"Histoire?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that anything will happen to-" As she asked the question, both of the fighters collapsed onto the ground. "Nevermind."

Before anyone could approach the two unconscious fighters, a bright light engulfed the entire area.

"No! Not again!"

* * *

When the light ended, everyone saw the same thing. A vision.

* * *

"_Blanc?" Origin-Neptune was looking upon the sleeping body of CPU Blanc, in his palms was a small bright white light. "Sorry... it took me... two years... to get you back... but I couldn't... find you before... they did this... to your body."_

_Origin-Neptune was bleeding all over his body. He had holes and cuts all over him. Blood was flowing out of his body. He could barely breathe, much less talk. Behind him were a very concerned Arfoire, Love and Peace. Alongside them was a quiet and oddly stoic Histoire._

"_Lord Purple Knight, it is imperative that you finish your business or I fear that you will not survive the process." Origin-Neptune turned to Histoire, attempting to make a smile._

"_Just a… second." The young man began to cough and Peace kneeled next to him. "I'm… fine…"_

"_But Nep-Nep…" Origin-Neptune shook her off, albeit painfully._

"_Fine…" He moved the ball of light over the sleeping CPU. "Little sis... I'm sorry... but I don't... think I can... watch over you... anymore… Blanc… please give her… some of your… power… even if it's… a little bit." Origin-Neptune dropped his hands and the ball of light drifted slowly into CPU. Once the light was completely absorbed by the CPU, the young man smiled. "Thank you… my brother…"_

_The original Neptune collapse into Peace's arms._

"_Nep-Nep!"_

"_Nep!" Arfoire turned to Histoire and nodded._

"_Love. Peace. We must hurry. We don't have much time." The two looked at each other sorrowfully, lifted Origin-Neptune, and carried him outside._

"_Goodbye… Little sis…" The two close friends led their friend out of the room and the tactician and tome fairy left the room._

* * *

With that, the vision ended.

"So, that's what happened." Everyone turned around to see Origin-Blanc and Origin-Neptune standing side by side.

"Yeah."

"So why did you show us all this?" Origin-Neptune sighed.

"I wanted to make sure that you know why you lost your body after what happened to you."

"Man, that sucks."

"Yeah, also I wanted to stop the fight with a random vision."

"Why?"

"Eh? No main reason." Origin-Neptune smiled at CPU Blanc. "But, I do have a promise to keep." CPU Blanc widened her eyes.

"Big bro?" The smile on her brother's face got wider, resembling that of his reincarnation.

"Hey, little sis. I kept my promise this time. So, let's catch up on what we missed after centuries of being separated."


	27. Intermission Twelve: Bonds

Promise Twelve: Bonds

"...and that's how I started a revolution in Lowee to save my country." Blanc was sitting next to her big bro in the middle of the courtyard, everyone else making a circle. Origin-Neptune patted Blanc on the head, making the CPU smile, albeit a very miniscule one.

"Good for you, little sis." Origin-Blanc sat beside his brother, watching the two with interest.

"Hey, Neptune?" Origin-Neptune looked to his other side.

"Yep?"

"Just wondering here, how did you react when you first met that me?" Origin-Neptune blinked.

"Me? Oh, I was _super_ pissed. Nearly killed her. Good thing I calmed down, or else I'd be a villain!" Origin-Blanc shrugged as the original Neptune turned to the current Blanc. "You remember that, don't you?" Blanc's eyes shifted downwards.

"Yeah…" Before she could get upset, Origin-Neptune clapped her on the back and shook the girl.

"No. No sadness. No." He then turned her head to the people surrounding her. "Look here. You've got everyone you'd need to help you, probably more out there." The young man tilted his head to the side.

"Thanks, bro." The young man then wrapped his arm around the CPU and began to tickle, causing the girl to laugh.

"Wow, I didn't think I'd see Blanc go from scared to surprised to relieved to happy to sad to joyful in a day." Noire looked at the purple haired CPU.

"Wait, you were unconcious for the part of this. How did yo-" As Noire began to question Neptune, Vert approached Origin-Blanc.

"Excuse me, are you still angry about Blanc 'taking' your body?" Origin-Blanc shrugged his shoulders.

"I could be, but I can't really do anything about it anymore." He then turned to his brother, who was still tickling the CPU of Lowee. "If he's protecting her, then I can't do anything about it. Especially after that vision, which means I've got to do what I gotta do and…" Origin-Blanc inhaled deeply, cupped his mouth with his hands and… "HEY, OTHER ME!"

Both CPU Blanc and Origin-Neptune looked at the original Blanc.

"YOU BETTER GET USED TO ME! CAUSE I'M NOT GOING BACK TO SLEEP!" Grinning, Origin-Neptune cupped his hands as well.

"WHY ARE YOU YELLING? WE'RE LITERALLY RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!"

"I DON'T KNO-!"

"GOOD FOR YOU!" Both brothers froze as Blanc shouted at the top of her lungs. Origin-Neptune put hand to his ear while Origin-Blanc sniggered at his brother's injury. She then looked at her big bro, who had let go of her now, trying to fix his hearing. "Bro."

"Yeah?"

"That vision, what happened to you afte-"

"Later."

"But-"

"Later."

"I want to kno-" Origin-Neptune narrowed his eyes and turned to his little sister.

"_Blanc." _Blanc flinched.

"Y-Yeah?"

"**Later, okay?**" Blanc nodded.

"Okay…" She then turned to Origin-Blanc. "So, you won't kill me anymore?" The young man blinked at the sudden change of topic.

"Never happ-

"Bull." Origin-Blanc chuckled.

"Ha ha. No." Origin-Blanc looked to the sky. "You know, you learn a lot of things as a mortal. But, if there's one thing that I learned: It's that you have to let things go sometimes." Origin-Neptune stopped checking his ear and grinned.

"Hey, Vert taught you that!" Upon hearing that name, Origin-Blanc turned bright red while Vert herself looked confused.

"Me?" Origin-Blanc shook his head.

"_No not you! My-!_" Origin-Blanc covered his head with hands, exhaling loudly. "I hate you, Neptune." His laughed at his reaction.

"Love you too, brother!" Origin-Neptune pointed at him. "Look! He's blushing!" Origin-Blanc grabbed his brother's collar, enraged.

"_How old are you? Five!?_" Origin-Neptune shook his head.

"Nah, I'm nineteen. Well, nineteen plus a couple centuries, but who's counting?" The original Blanc let go of his brother, exhausted.

"Man, you changed."

"You haven't." Origin-Blanc facepalmed as Histoire floated over to him.

"Hello, Sir White Heart." The young man removed his hand and looked at the tome fairy. "It is nice to finally meet you." He stared at the fairy blankly.

"..." Sweat rolled down Histoire's cheek as she waited for Origin-Blanc to greet her back.

"Um, is there something wrong?" Origin-Blanc pointed at her.

"Who are you?" Neptune plopped herself on Origin-Blanc's back, nuzzling her head into his hat.

"She's Histy! The tome of Gamindustri. She's so adorable, isn't she?" Origin-Blanc tilted his head.

"Histy?" Histoire smiled.

"Well, everyone calls me Histy, but my full name is Histoire."

"Histoire? That sounds familia-" He noticed the tome that Histoire was sitting on. "Hey! That tome!" Origin-Blanc got up from his spot, causing Neptune to fall off of him, and gripped the tome on both sides and pulled, leaving Histoire in the air. She landed on the ground a few seconds later."Why are you sitting on the Elder's tome!?" He then turned to Neptune, raising his eyebrow.

"Wait a sec, who are you?" Noire leaned over Neptune, still lying facedown.

"She's Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune, who also happens to be the reincarnation of your brother."

"Okay then…" He then turned to Histoire. "Anyways, why are you sitting on the Elder's tome!?" Histoire looked up to the original Blanc.

"How rude! Why would you grab me so roughly?" Histoire closed her eyes and clenched her tiny fists.

"What?" Origin-Neptune had moved from his position and patted his brother on the shoulder. His eyes changed from cheerful to serious. The party noticed this change immediately.

"She's the personification of the _La Magie de l'Histoire_." His brother raised an eyebrow. "Well, here's an obvious clue: What's her name?"

"Her name's Hist- Oh." Origin-Blanc looked to the tome, then to fairy, then to the tome. He then crouched down, placing the tome in front of Histoire. "Sorry." Histoire smiled at him greatfully.

"It's fine, the confusion is gone." She climbed onto her tome and the book began to float into the air. "Now, let me start again. Hello, Sir White Heart." Origin-Blanc pointed to himself.

"White Heart? Me?" Histoire nodded. "Wha- That doesn't sound like a good name for me at all!"

"I'm sorry, Sir White Heart." The young man's eye twitched. "However, when Gamindustri was created through the Quartet's efforts. You were to be given a new name in order to prevent any remaining hostility from targeting you." Origin-Blanc then turned to his brother.

"Wait a sec, what did Hist-," He turned to look at Histoire, who smiled at him. Origin-Blanc nodded in response. "What did Histy call you again in that vision?"

"Lord Purple Knight." The young man slumped over.

"Why does your name sound so badass? Well, except for the color." Origin-Neptune rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I didn't chose my name, nor did I chose yours." Origin-Blanc narrowed his eyes.

"Then who named me?"

"Vert." In an instant, Origin-Blanc retracted his complaints, his cheeks staining a light pink as he muttered nonsense about his new name.

Noire looked confused.

"Um, excuse me. Other Neptune?" He turned to the CPU of Lastation.

"What?"

"One second, you were super friendly and teasing, like our Neptune." She gestured to the CPU, who had finally stood up and was dusting off her jacket. "Now, you're acting all serious and cold." The original Neptune shrugged.

"I can be like that. People are unique, no person is the same." He pointed to Blanc and Neptune. "See? Even though we may have the same bodies, well sorta, and names. We, the originals, are completely different from you, our reincarnations. Different personalities, different genders, different likes and dislikes, the list goes on." Histoire floats over to Origin-Neptune.

"I apologize for changing the subject, but I have a question." Origin-Neptune nodded.

"Fire away Histoire."

"Has Neptune inherited anything from you?" Raising an eyebrow, Origin-Neptune shook his head.

"Not a lot, why?" Neptune closed in, giving her original a big smile.

"Remember our duel?" Her orignal nodded. "Well, I don't think you do. You used a lot of my techniques, even having twists and extras that I never thought of." She inched closer to Origin-Neptune. "Also, I heard from Blanc that you were able to move super fast. Something I can't do." Origin-Blanc sighed. "So, what'd you say."

The young purplette scratched the back of his neck,

"It's simple really, but it more confusing to explain than to understand." Origin-Neptune put finger up. "You better get ready, because I got a large theory for you, although I pretty much proved it myself, with Blanc's help."

"During our duel, I used you memories to learn of your strategies, your abilities, your preferences, you know the rest. From there, I would use the information I got to counter and become an anti-Neptune in battle. So, I didn't really pass down a lot to you, other than some obvious things. Also, for that sudden speed that you were able to pull off, that wasn't me doing something really special. I just tapped into your full potential. I did what you should be able to do at your peak. Not much to it." Neptune stared at him, disappointed.

"Aw, I hoped that you used some magical mumbo jumbo to be super strong."

"Sorry, but like I said, nothing special." Origin-Blanc grabbed his brother by the shoulder.

"Neptune, memories? I can't accesses her memories." He pointed to CPU Blanc.

"That's where my theory comes in. Since you and little sis barely know each other, hell, you two weren't even aware of each other. You aren't in sync with each other."

"Sync?"

"Yeah, sync. Like you two know each other and trust each other, something like this Neptune and I." He wrapped an arm around Neptune. "We trust each other, allowing either of us to reach into us and help each other. However, you two on the other hand." Origin-Neptune pointed to the two Blancs. "You two aren't aware of each other, one of you tried to _kill_ the other. Also, adding the to the fact, that Blanc has been dormant inside little sis without any knowledge of it, it would make a lot of disagreements. However, that doesn't mean that you can't get in sync." Origin-Blanc crossed his arms.

"Hmm. So if you're saying that if this other Blanc and I get closer, we could do what you and the other Neptune can do?"

"Basically."

"Uh…" Suddenly, a meek voice sounded from behind the two brothers. They turned around to see Rom, nervously fidgeting under the originals' gaze. "Ram and I were wondering… where are we?" Origin-Blanc stared at Rom, feeling deja vu. Meanwhile, Origin-Neptune turned to Histoire.

"Good question. Histoire, where are we?" Histoire frowned.

"I was hoping that you had an answer." Arfoire finally spoke up.

"I believe that we're in a separate dimension, created by the original Blanc's magic and emotions combining." Both the originals of Blanc and Neptune pointed at the woman.

"Arfoire! When did you get here?"

"And why do look exactly the same!?" Arfoire ignored her nephew and turned to her adoptive nephew.

"I've been here the whole time."

"Oh." She then turned to Origin-Neptune.

"And, Neptune, I may be old, but it's not nice to point out details of people." The young man scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed.

"Aunty, you said that we're in a different dimension right?" Arfoire shook her head.

"More of a pocket dimension, I believe that once the original Blanc's magic wears off, we'll return to where we were." Origin-Neptune grunted.

"Huh, makes sense." As Origin-Neptune and Arfoire spoke to each other, Origin-Blanc turned to Rom and the other Candidates.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" _I have a feeling that I've at least heard of them, but I can't figure out where?_ Ram frowned at the original Blanc.

"What!? Hmph, it does make sense since you just woke up from a deep sleep. But I'm Ram, and this is Rom. We're the CPU Candidates of Lowee and Blanc's sisters." Ram puffed out her chest while Rom held her hands over hers, giving the young man a small smile.

"Uh huh." Widening his eyes, Origin-Blanc stepped back.

"Wait. Did you say _Rom_ and _Ram_?" The twins nodded. Turning to Nepgear and Uni, Origin-Blanc raised a shaky finger at them. "A-A-And you are?"

"I'm Nepgear, Neptune's little sister and CPU Candidate of Planeptune."

"I'm Uni. Noire's little sister and CPU Candidate of Lastation. Don't forget." Origin-Blanc gasped, grabbed Origin-Neptune by the collar and pulled him aside.

"Woah! What's up, brother?" He pointed to the Candidates.

"Do you not _realize_ who those kids are?" Origin-Neptune looked at the little sisters then back to Origin-Blanc.

"What?" An anger vein popped out of Origin-Blanc skull, but he suppressed his anger and pulled his brother closer.

"They have the same names as…" The original Blanc whispered the rest into his brother's ear, who looked skeptical.

"What? Now that you say that, they do."

"They also look the same as…" Origin-Neptune turned to the Candidates, his irises shrinking.

"Oh shit." Origin-Neptune stepped back now, obviously surprised. "Why didn't I realize soo- Oh wait. Years of being conscious and then memory loss. Right. That bull." Curious, the Candidates approached them.

"Is there something wrong?" Origin-Neptune shook his head to Nepgear's question.

"Nope. Nothing. Nope. Nope nope nope nope. _Noooooooooooooooope._" Before the Candidates could press further, the area began to crack like glass.

"Whoa! What in the Nep is happening!?" Neptune grabbed onto the closest thing possible, which happened to be surprised, and now shutting down due to embarrassment, Noire.

"It seems that Blanc's magic is wearing off." She looked to see Origin-Blanc and Origin-Neptune beginning to fade away.

"Oh crap, I'm fading! Am I going to die again!?"

"Nah. I don't think so, Blanc." Origin-Neptune then turned to the party. "I think I barely have any time left, so I'm going to say this now. Take a break. At least for a month or three."

"Why?"

"Since Blanc's awake and with all the commotion he's caused-"

"Hey!"

"I have a feeling that both he and little sis should have some time to get to know each other. They do share the same body, after all." The area began to crack in faster intervals. "I hope these two will get along…"

Falcom walked up to the two, giving them a fist pump.

"Don't worry, on my honor as a rookie adventurer, I swear that they'll get along fine!" The two brothers stared at Falcom, surprised.

"Wait, is that NE-"

The courtyard shattered and everything went to black.

* * *

One by one, the party awoke. In the exact same spot they were in before the bright flash of light shrouded them. The only ones to not wake up were Blanc, who was in Vert's lap, and Neptune, who was half on the snack table, her face smushed against an empty snack bowl.

"Lady Blanc!" All attention was turned toward the door as Financier ran inside, worry etched onto her face. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine." Upon hearing Histoire's voice, the chamberlain sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness, for a second, I thought I heard someone screaming '_**Get out of my head'**_ just now." Her concern now subsided, Financier walked out of the room, excusing herself.

"Ugh, my head…" Blanc sat up, rubbing her head as her hat fell off. **I'll say, the destruction of that place really hurt the brain. **Shocked, Blanc looked up, down, left and right, searching for the voice. **You don't have to move so fast, I'm in your head, figuratively and literally.** Vert gently tapped Blanc.

"Blanc, are you alright?" The CPU nodded, paused for a second, then shook her head.

"I think I'm hearing my original inside my head." **Yes. Yes, you are.** "Yeah, he's awake."

"Really?" Neptune had awoken and removed her head from the bowl, crumbs stuck to her cheeks. "So that mean…" _**Yes, Neptune. I'm here too.**_ "Oh guys, this is awesome!" Neptune began to ramble on about having a spiritual advisor and becoming super powerful.

Everyone watched Neptune rant on, some of them even laughing. Blanc being one of them.

"Neptune, you never change." **Hey.** Blanc blinked. **It seems like I'm gonna be here for a while, so let's get along shall we?** "I don't mind, but there's probably a good reason for you being all friendly, isn't there." **Nah. Not really. **Blanc smiled. "Sure, whatever." She joined the others as Neptune continued talking, keeping his last sentence echoing in her mind.

**I just made a promise, one that I intend to keep.**

* * *

**To be continued in…**

**Black and Purple**

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

_**So...uh, hi. Kaiyo No Umi here, and this is my first author's note that isn't a separate chapter since doing that is actually against guidelines! Yay! Anyways, I really don't like doing this kind of stuff on my chapters so I'm just gonna be quick:**_

_**I'm going to have work on Black and Purple while at the same time working on An Loner's Idol Family (previously An Idol's Loner). So, yeah, expect that.**_

_**-Kaiyo no Umi**_


	28. Black and Purple: The Boy Who Fell Pt 1

Black and Purple

Chapter 1: The Boy Who Fell in the River Part 1

Three months have passed since the original Blanc had awoken from his slumber. After waking up, the CPUs decided to take a break from listening to the story and have some fun on their own.

* * *

"Does this look nice?" Noire held up a dress in front of her. It had frills and looked very unique, that was because it was a cosplay outfit of a princess. She placed the dress over her shoulders and twisting left and right, looking at a full body mirror.

"Onee-chan…" From a small opening through the door, Uni watched her sister change cosplay to cosplay. Ganache stood at the side, checking his wristwatch and waiting for Uni to turn around so that he could ask her to accept a Quest in behalf of Lastation, mainly Chain and her factory.

* * *

"Alright, I must reach the top one percentage in Four Goddesses Online!" Putting on her headphones, Vert crouched in front of her computer screens. She began to click on her mouse and type on her keyboard furiously, not blinking once.

During her gaming session, someone at the other side of the door began knocking.

"Lady Vert! Please open up! We need you to do your work!" Yvoire pleaded and then turned to Ran-Ran. "Ran-Ran, can you do something?" The girl wearing a pig mask shook her head.

"Ran-Ran can't do anything about Lady Vert, in fact…" Ran-Ran walked away. "Ran-Ran should play games too." Yvoire reached out for the girl.

"W-Wait, Ran-Ran! Don't go!" However, the girl didn't turned to face him and left. The old man sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "What am I going to do?"

* * *

"_Hey Blanc."_

"What?" Currently, the CPU of Lowee was reading a novel while jotting down a rough draft.

"_Do you think you should do something other than read and write?"_ Blanc's eyes turned upward, annoyed.

"No." She returned to her book.

…

…

…

"_You know, you've done this five days straight."_

"I know."

"_And that maid lady- What was her name?"_

"Financier, and she's not a maid. She's a chamberlain."

"_...Right. Last time you did this, she cut the power to your room. Do you-" _Almost immediately, the lights in her room turned off. "_...Nevermind." _Sighing, Blanc closed her book and put down her pencil.

"I guess I'll play with Rom and Ram."

"_You should have been doing that in the first place."_ Blanc ignored her original and walked out of her room. "_Hey, don't ignore me. That's rude."_ She walked over to her sisters' room and poked her head in. The twins were lying on the ground and drawing in sketchbooks that Financier had bought them for doing errands.

"Rom. Ram. Wanna play?" The two girls looked up their sister with wide eyes.

"Really!? I wanna play!"

"...Me too." They stood up and ran over to their older sister, hugging her. Blanc wrapped her arms around them.

"Come on, let's go!"

"...Let's play." The twins pulled Blanc down the hallway. As they moved towards the lobby, Blanc and the twins passed by Financier.

"Going out?" The chamberlain smiled and Blanc nodded.

"Yeah, we're going out." Financier waved at the three.

"Take care!"

"...She must have planned this." Origin-Blanc sighed.

"_She did this last time, why haven't you figured that out yet?"_

"Oh, I knew."

"_What? Then wh-"_

"Why not?"

"_..." _Origin-Blanc sighed once more. "_Just go play with your sisters."_

"Sure."

* * *

"_Neptune?"_

"Yeah, other me?"

"_Shouldn't you… I don't know, DO SOMETHING?" _Currently, Neptune was lying on her stomach on a beanbag in front of a T.V., playing a video game.

"SONIC JUMP!" Neptune inched closer to the T.V. with her eyes wide but then her eyes immediately turned to sorrow. Neptune buried her face into the beanbag. "Dang it!" Her character fell into the pit again, for the third time. Origin-Neptune sighed in exasperation. Neptune paused the game and rolled onto her back.

"_Neptune…"_ The girl in question smiled at her counterpart and stretched.

"What's up other me?"

"_You should do something." _Neptune pouted.

"Eeeeeh!?"

"_You should. Like questing, doing paperwork, helping the people, __**not stressing out Histoire**_ _and- you're even listening to me, are you?"_ Neptune paused her game.

"Huh, what was that?"

"_Figures… This is what happens when someone loses her memory." _Origin-Neptune sighed. "_But, whatever. Look, you better start working before Histoire starts making a-"_

"**NEPTUNE! (****＃****`Д´)"** Neptune flinched and turned around, a drop of sweat rolling down her face.

"Aw, crackers…"

"_Oh, here we go." _At that moment, Histoire floated into the room; a vein her face protruding from her skin. She saw the CPU lying down and flew closer to her.

"Uh… H-Hey, Histy." The tome fairy crossed her tiny arms covered by her larger, for her, sleeves.

"Don't Histy me! ヽ( `д´*)ノ" Despite being small enough to sit on a book, Histoire packed a loud voice, which was only heard by Neptune herself, Nepgear whenever she followed her older sister's antics, and currently the original Neptune.

"_Hurts… everytime…"_

"Tell me about it…" Neptune sat in a seiza position as Histoire began to rant about how it was important for CPUs to have a great work ethic, like Noire, a strong love for her people, like Blanc, and a strong will, like Vert.

"_Ouch, the comparison card… Ow… Even I felt that."_

"What are we going to do Other-Nep?" Neptune had to whisper so Histoire could not hear her, although she was still ranting and wouldn't be able to notice.

"_Well, I got an idea."_

"Ooooh, plans! I wanna know!"

"_Work."_

"Huh?"

"_Do some work."_

"Huh…" Neptune tentatively placed a finger on her cheek, pressing it while making humming sounds.

"_You don't have to do it."_ Now the girl was confused. "_I'll do it."_

"Oooooh, that's cool. But how'll that work?" Neptune dropped her hand back to her side and looked up, her eyes questioning.

"_I'll take control." _At this moment, Histoire noticed that Neptune was staring at the ceiling with a glazed look on her face.

"Neptune? (ﾟロﾟ)" The fairy floated in front of the CPU of Planeptune, waving her hand in front of the goddess. With three waves, Neptune blinked, her glazed purple eyes turning into sharper, darker ones.

Neptune stood up, although she wasn't as relaxed as she normally was. Instead, she stood straight ahead, her eyes looking down at the fairy, almost glaring. After three more blinks, Neptune shook her head, cupping a hand over her forehead.

"Ah… This personality swapping hurts my head." Suddenly taking a deep breath, Neptune stretched her shoulders outwards. "Even though this is the second time I've done it." Histoire watched Neptune speak to herself.

"Um… Neptune?" Neptune looked at Histoire, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, hey Histoire." Histoire floated backwards a little bit.

"Hello? (・_・;)"

"It's the other Neptune, the one you used to know." Blinking, the fairy opened her mouth in realization, but closed it.

"Then, where's the Neptu-" Neptune pointed at her forehead.

"In here. She's been quiet for a bit."

"_I'M IN MY OWN HEAD!" _Neptune closed her eyes painfully and crouched, gripping her head.

"...Ow…" Histoire tilted her head at Neptune's sudden actions.

"Is something wrong?" Neptune stood up, one eye still closed.

"Neptune's… being Neptune." The girl shook her head and looked down, uncomfortable. "Why are my legs so breezy?" She saw that her legs were bare besides her long purple striped socks and her hoodie. "I've been thinking… why doesn't Neptune wear pants?" Histoire opened her mouth and then after a second, closed it.

"That's a very good question… (￣_￣)・・・" Silence.

"_Uh, guys? I'm still here you know."_ Neptune looked up, narrowing her eyes.

"Neptune, you have stupid taste in clothing." Neptune walked past Histoire. "I'm gonna look for pants." Before she left, Neptune moved her head so that she was staring at Histoire over her shoulder. "Histoire, Neptune and I are going to finish a couple of quests."

"Ah… yes." With that, Histoire was left in the room by herself. "...Having two different Neptunes can be very confusing…" The Neptune of the past was serious and blunt in nature, while the Neptune that she knew now was carefree and joyful. Complete opposites.

* * *

"_So… what are we doing?" _Neptune walked into her room, walking over to her closet and digging through her pile of clothing.

"Like I said earlier, I need pants." The CPU tossed different colored hoodies over her shoulder, a school uniform, a swimsuit, and various assortments of clothing until finding a pair of white pants at the bottom of the closet. "This'll work." Neptune pulled the pants over her legs and buttoned them up.

"_Ew… This feels weird."_ The girl glared upwards toward the ceiling.

"Everyone's different. Deal with it." Neptune walked turned to her pile of clothing and began folding them. In thirty minutes, the messy room was somewhat clean as there still manga and videogames scattered about the floor.

"_Wow, you work fast other me." _Neptune scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah. Well, someone has to do something." Upon stepping into the elevator, Neptune stares at the multiple buttons, her finger hovering over them.

"_Something wrong?" _Neptune slumped and put a hand over her head, the other hand lightly tapping on one of the buttons but not pushing it. "_Don't know which one to push?"_ The girl straightened up and sighed.

"I've seen you activate this contraption before, but my mind is a little fuzzy on what to do." A shrill gasp resounded inside Neptune's head, causing her to flinch. "What, what's wrong?"

"_**I can help!**_" Placing a hand on her hip, Neptune raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" The inner Neptune grunted in agreement and then directed her counterpart to the correct the button. A finger pushed one of the lowest button and the door slid to a close, surprising the girl. "Gah!" The pillbox shuddered and began to dive downwards. The CPU inside the box dropped onto the floor and swung her head left and right.

"_What's wrong?"_ Neptune looked up, her eyes wide. Standing up, she leaned against the wall, crossing her arms and turning to look out the glass wall to see the futuristic view that was Planeptune.

"I'm… just startled, that's all." The two stayed silent and listened to the hum of the elevator. "So… this is Planeptune…"

"_Yeah. A real beaut isn't she?"_ Neptune's sharp eyes shined as the sun hovered over the tall white buildings that sprouted out of the Planeptunian cement.

'It's great…" A smile blooms across the girl's mouth. lips turning upwards. "So this is the world that we gave our whole lives for…" Closing her eyes, Neptune pressed the back of her head against the cool chrome wall. "It feels like a dream…"

At that moment, the elevator had reached its destination and halted to stop, causing the CPU to fall flat on her stomach with a grunt.

"_Are you okay?"_

"Well, it's not a dream. That's for sure." Neptune picked herself up and shook her head as the elevator opened to let the CPU out. "Actually, is Arfoire around?"

"_I think so, why do you ask?"_ A small grin formed on the Goddess of Planeptune's mouth.

"Just a little something mysterious." The inner Neptune let out a sound of amusement and awe. "Let's just go find her after we do these jobs." And now the voice inside her head grinned and pretended to sleep. "You can't sleep in there, Ne- Ah, whatever."

* * *

Nepgear entered the living room, exhausted from her quests. The sun was setting and turned the sky into a pale orange melting into reds and yellows as the sun sunk under the horizon. With a sigh, the CPU Candidate sat down on the purple sofa in the middle of the purple rugged room.

"Oh, hey Nepgear. Want a drink?" Her older sister's voice reached her eyes and the CPU Candidate raised her head wearily.

"...Neptune?" To Nepgear, something wasn't right. Under normal circumstances, Neptune would be lying on bean bag chair, playing video games and although she would be exhausted, she'd make a cup of tea for herself and sister.

"Here, I don't I made it right, but try it." Holding a cup of steaming water infused with dried leaves, Nepgear took the cup from her sister to see that her sister's eyes were completely different from what she was used to.

"N-Neptune!?" Sharp dark purple eyes blinked at her. "You're eyes…" The eyes now widened and Neptune moved away from her little sister.

"Oh right, sorry." The girl scratched the back of her head. "Your sister and I have switched places for a bit, so she's inside my head."

"_Hey, Nep Jr. look!" _Cringing, Neptune punched herself in the head, causing the inner Neptune to yelp and Nepgear to be startled.

"Goodness! Neptune, are you okay?" Nepgear stood up, reaching out to her smaller older sister with a concerned gaze. Neptune waved her off and sat down, taking a sip from her own cup. The CPU cringed at the sickening sweet of the iced tea that she had taken from the refrigerator and placed the drink on the table in front of couch, sticking out her tongue and squeezing her eyes shut. Gagging, Neptune's head shivered as she tried use her mouth to scrape away the tastebuds covering her tongue.

Rubbing her face repeatedly with her hand, Neptune took a deep breath and turned to her sister, raising a shaky thumbs up.

"J-Just peachy…"

"_He-Hey, are you okay?"_ Neptune's eyes moved upwards and the edges of her mouth moved downwards.

"This is too _sweet_!" Inside her own mind, Neptune gasped and the outer Neptune's eye twitched. "What? It is!" Tilting her head, Nepgear watched her sister fight… with herself. "No, I won't drink it!" After a moment, Neptune groaned and grabbed the iced tea, chugged the drink, looked like she was about to puke, and placed the glass down. Sighing, the CPU turned to the Candidate. "Nepgear."

"Yes?" A smile formed on the smaller girl's face.

"You wanna go on a field trip?" Nepgear's eyes shined in excitement as she clasped her hands together and stood up.

"Yes! Yes! Where are we going?" Turning towards the window, Neptune pointed out to the horizon.

"Lastation!"

* * *

Days later, the party would regroup at Lastation, with Ganache leading them to the room that Noire had set up for them.

"Please follow me." Ganache bowed and took a glance at Blanc, his eyes wavering, then procceded to the designated room. The CPU of Lowee rolled her eyes upon seeing the former believer and walked along with rest of the group.

"_Hey, Neptune?"_ The lavendette smiled as her counterpart's voice sounded in her head. "_What's up with Lil' Blanc and that dude in the suit?"_ Looking at Blanc and the back of Ganache, Neptune scratched her cheek as a sweatdrop rolled down her face.

"Well…" The CPU of Planeptune began to explain Blanc and Ganache's 'relationship' to her original self inside her head, taking glances at Blanc occasionally. Blanc, conscious of Neptune sneaking peaks at her, narrowed her eyes and glared at Neptune.

"What?" Flinching, Neptune began to swing her hands around, trying to compliment her hat and asking if the hat was new. The brunette raised an eyebrow and shook her head. As Neptune tried to talk her way out of Blanc's curiosity, the rest of party sweatdropped and watched the purple-haired girl fumble about.

"_Poor Lil' Blanc…"_

A certain tsundere coughed to get the attention of her peers. Once all eyes turned towards her, Noire crossed her arms and sighed. From beside her, Uni looked over her sister,worried. Upon seeing Nepgear, Rom and Ram, the CPU Candidate of Lastation waved at her friends.

"Are you all done yet?" Huffing, Noire turned around and walked into the room. Holding the door open, Ganache bowed, wishing the party good luck and clicking his tongue when Blanc passed him, irritating the girl. Blanc gritted her teeth upon entering the room until Rom and Ram held onto her, telling her that the "meanie is a stupid head", causing the CPU to smile and hugged the two tightly.

Histoire smiled at the spectacle before her but changed gears immediately to address the group before her. The tome fairy raised and waved her arms, the long sleeves flowing around her arms.

"Everyone, it is time to watch the next section of the Quartet. Are you all ready? (￣▽￣)/" The tiny girl was met with a chorus of cheers and she turned to the purified woman, who nodded in turn. Histoire raised her arms in the air and a small ball of light began to form in her hands. The ball grew larger and larger, swallowing the area surrounding it, eventually enveloping the whole room.

* * *

"This will end it!" Eyes were greeted to a familiar scene, Origin-Neptune stood over a fallen Muoni, foot pressed against the man's chest and arm raised in the air, weapon ready to end his opponent.

Neptune swung his weapon, only to pause when a gust of wind blew against his face, obstructing his vision. As he raised his free arm to cover his eyes, a shadow rushed out of the woods and flew straight at the boy. Before he could react, the shadow rammed into him, sending him flying off of the monstrous man and clear off the cliff. All Neptune could register was that he was no longer on solid ground, and quickly losing elevation. As he fell, he could see his brother reach out to him, eyes wide and fearful.

"_**Neptune!" **_In an instant, Neptune's surroundings turned from a cliffside surrounded by woods to another forest from below quickly catching up to him. All he could do was scream as he plummeted to his doom and think of one single thought.

"_I… failed…"_ Approaching closer and closer to the ground, purple eyes slowly transitioned from shock to sorrow, soon filling with tears. Plummeting through the treetops, grunts of pain sounded out with each branch that Neptune fell into. With every branch that he made contact with, the boy's body would get scratched and and cut by each one. Eventually, the purple-haired boy fell out of the trees and headfirst into a river.

A pool of deep red floating up to the surface. Soon after that, Neptune would resurface facing upwards, his eyes fading in spirit and hope. The river's current was picking up, carrying him along with the water and blood. As he flowed with the current, the boy passed under an opening from the thick treetops, revealing a full moon that illuminated him and a small area around him.

Instinctively, Neptune weakly reached a shaking arm to the white ball of light. Images of his mother, his father, Blanc and his new friends Love and Peace flashed through his mind.

"Guys…" Neptune's eyes began to waver, the moon reflecting from his lavender irises. "I'm sorry…" Soon his eyes began to lose focus and his arm dropped back into the water, floating helplessly against the current. The blood that pooled around his head had floated down the river and became a small strand of red in a flood of white. Tears flowed from his eyes to the river, eventually stopping as his eyes closed and his body relaxed. The water carrying him further downstream and back under the thick trees, hidden from all eyes except for those that were actively following him through the power of Histoire.


	29. Black and Purple: The Boy Who Fell Pt 2

Chapter 1: The Boy Who Fell in the River Part 2

"...Wow, that was pretty hardcore." Neptune blinked her eyes as the scene before them faded into darkness.

"_Yeah… that hurt."_

"So what happens now?" As the CPU of Planeptune asked her counterpart, faint beige light began to fill the black void. The scene revealed Origin-Neptune lying under a thick white blanket, his head wrapped in bandages that were stained with blood.

"_Less talking. More watching."_

Neptune pouted but followed her counterpart's orders, seeing her counterpart stirring from his sleep.

* * *

Groaning, Neptune attempted to sit up, pain preventing from moving comfortably. Upon sitting up, the boy flinched and reached for his head, eyes screwed shut and face contorting in discomfort. He opened his eyes slowly, seeing unfamiliar surroundings.

Around him was a beige colored cloth wall and under his thin mattress made of a soft material was long grass cut so that the injured boy's injuries wouldn't be tickled by the commonly long weeds. The only light available to him was from a tiny crack made by the tent's opening, and yet the light was faint.

Neptune looked downwards and attempted to remove the blanket placed on top of him with great difficulty. Once the covering was gone, the boy could see what he was wearing. He wore unfamiliar black pants. Also, Neptune noticed that he wore a matching sleeveless black shirt. Although he couldn't put his finger on it, his left wrist felt strangely lighter. He then noticed that his arms were wrapped in bandages and that his waist and legs were stiff due to something hugging him tightly from under his clothes, but paid no mind to it. Before he could examine the immediate area or himself further, the small opening widened before Neptune's eyes, causing more faint light to flood into the room.

A woman in her mid twenties appeared from the opening. She wore a thin black chestplate that left her shoulders to her arms the ability to move freely and accented her chest. On her waist was a red sash wrapped around it. Below the waist, the girl wore black pants similar to Neptune's and added shin guards along with it. The girl's elbows and arms were covered in metal padding while her fists were equipped with metal gloves and her feet with metal boots, making her limbs look ready to protect and attack at the same time.

Despite her fighter appearance, her wide red eyes landed on the purple-haired boy and her mouth grew into a wider smile. She immediately moved over to Neptune and gingerly placed her hands on his shoulders, crouching so that her face close to his and making the boy uncomfortable.

"Good to see you're awake?" After checking his bandages, the girl stood up straight with her arms at her hips. The grin on her mouth curled into a soft smile. "You know, sleeping in a river isn't a good thing, even with all those injuries." Surprised, the boy looked at himself and then at her.

"Injuries?" Neptune moved his shoulder, experiencing a sharp pain. The red eyed fighter bent over to him, concerned. After a second of pain, the injured boy took a deep breath. "...Oh, I think that was from an injury." Sweatdropping, the woman awkwardly chuckled as she reached into her bag that was behind her waist and pulled out a blue bottle with a bright brown . Removing the cork, she handed it to him.

"Here, drink it." Hesitantly, Neptune reached for the bottle and held it up to his mouth, but stopped, looking at the woman. Noticing his wariness, the woman knelt down next to the boy and patted him in the back gently. "Don't worry, this drink is called an elixir. It'll bring you back to full strength."

Taking a deep breath, the boy closed his eyes and put the bottle up to his lips and tilted his head upwards. A light blue liquid poured down his throat and Neptune was covered in a light green light for a brief second. Once the light disappeared, the purple-haired boy removed the bottle from his mouth and shifted around. His limbs no longer hurt but were still stiff from the bandages, his waist didn't feel crushed and his head no longer caused him any discomfort.

The woman smiled and patted the boy on the back.

"Well?" Neptune nodded and stretched, only to find that the bandages hindered him from doing so. "Oh, let me get that for you." The woman grabbed on the boy's shirt and pulled it up, surprising the boy and causing him to try and free himself but the fighter's strength overpowered his. "Hold still, if you struggle this'll make it harder to get off of you." Eventually, Neptune gave in and allowed the woman to remove the bandages. "...And done." She stood up and tossed the bandages aside, stepping back to give the boy room to stand.

Neptune finally picked himself up from the flat mattress. His arms and legs no longer felt stiff. Stretching his limbs, the boy let out a satisfied sigh. Turning to the woman, Neptune reached out a hand.

"Thank you." With a smile, Neptune shook hands with the fighter. "I've been meaning to ask, but what's your name?" His question was met by a wide grin. The woman thrusted her arm into the boy's face, making a 'V' with her index and middle fingers.

"My name is SF, and I'm part of the ZRT!" Neptune tilted his head, his eyes wide.

"What?" SF winked and Neptune swore that he saw a star fly from the wink.

"ZRT, short for Zoni Rectangular Table." The fighter then planted a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Well then, what's your name?" Her question was met with a blank stare.

"Uh… I was hoping that you'd tell me." SF's smile dropped and her eyes turned to confusion. "I guess you don't know." The woman shook her head. "Dang…" SF's hand left Neptune's shoulder.

"Are you telling me that you don't remember your name?" Neptune nodded and the fighter turned around, hand on her chin. "Hmm…"

* * *

The party turned to look at Neptune. Compa's eyes shined as she glomped her goddess friend while IF patted her head.

"It's just like Nep-Nep!" The brunette Guild agent grinned as she gave the CPU a noogie.

"It sure is! The only difference is that Nep lost her memory from plunging straight into the ground." Neptune closed her eyes, mildly annoyed but content with the affection she was given.

"Uh, girls? I don't mean to break up the intimacy, but Other-Me is laughing his head off."

Confused, Origin-Blanc called out to his counterpart.

"_Hey, Blanc?"_ Blanc looked up, her eyes bored.

"What do you want, Original-Me?"

"_What does she mean?"_ Blanc recounted the events from Neptune's fall from Celestia to her return a year after being stuck in the divine continent. "_Huh, that place sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."_

"You don't have fingers. You live in my consciousness." She heard her counterpart grunt in amusement.

"_I guess I don't." _Blanc reached out to the snack table and grabbed a tangerine and began peeling it. At the same time, Neptune reached for an egg custard pudding cup, that Noire placed a while ago, and opened it. The Planeptunian CPU's eyes were locked on the contemplating SF.

"Just throwing this out there, that SF gal looks pretty familiar." Noire nodded.

"Yeah, she looks a lot like Tekken if she wore armor."

"...She does look like me, doesn't she?"All eyes darted towards the sound of a soft spoken girl to find the girl in question sitting cross legged on the ground in her torn up fighting gi and shorts. Tekken waved at her companions and gave them a bright smile. "Hi everyone, it took you a while to notice me." Vert pointed at the girl in confusion.

"W-When did you get in? From where you were sitting, we should have seen you walk into the room without a second glance!" Tekken scratched the back of her head.

"Miss Marvelous has been teaching some ninja skills, but to be honest I just walked in with everyone else. The man in the blue suit and glasses even greeted me too." Silence permeated the room as Tekken began to scratch her cheek. "Shouldn't we be watching something else?"

The whole party agreed and returned their focus to the scene before them, with an invisible Historie thanking the bare-handed fighter.

* * *

SF's eyes opened with a smile back on her face. She whipped around and pointed straight at Neptune's face.

"If we don't know your name, then why don't we give you one?" Stepping back and recovering at the sudden action, Neptune nodded his head in agreement.

"That seems about right, I mean I could use it until I remember my name later down the road." SF gave the boy a thumbs up and crossed her arms. The armored fighter began to pace back and forth in the tent, with Neptune watching as she moved, her armor light clunking with each step.

Suddenly, SF stopped in the middle of her pace and pointed a finger up. Her red eyes shined like a passionate fire as she turned to face the amnesiac.

"How about Crash?" Immediately, the boy tilted his head. SF spread her arms out as she began to explain her reasoning. "You see, when we found you in the river, you had all these cuts and bruises alongside that head injury. So we guessed that you fell from a high altitude and 'crashed' through the treetops, which explains all the injuries." The boy rubbed his chin, eventually shrugging and giving the woman a nod.

"It's not like I can't think of anything better. Crash it is." The fighter fist pumped the air and made a little hop, her fist almost hitting the top of the low ceiling. SF held her hand out once more, a bigger smile on her face.

"It's great to meet you, Crash." The newly named Crash shook hands with SF again, a grin on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss SF." SF waved her free hand, her face a little red.

"SF is fine. I'm not that old to have the 'Miss' yet. Oh wait, I just remembered." SF reached into her bag and pulled out a white wristband with purple accents. Placing the band over Crash's hands, the boy immediately realized that the object belonged to him. "We found it on you and we had to remove it in order to cover up some of the injuries." Without a second thought, Crash placed the wristband on his left wrist, his arm feeling normal again. SF smiled as the boy moved his arm around happily. "Now that you all better, we better get going." Crash turned to the woman, confused once more.

"Going?" SF nodded as she opened the tent flap, more light flooding into the tent.

"Yeah, we set up camp just to take care of you, but now that I know that you probably have amnesia, cause you can't even remember your name, we can't leave you by yourself until we reach the capital." The woman turned to Crash, grinning. "Come on, let's get a move on!"

Crash nodded and followed after SF, the faint light engulfing him and the fighter.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay. But I don't have a lot of time on my hands right now. Also, sorry that this chapter was shorter than most. As you can see this was supposed to be part of the previous chapter, but I thought that this part might have been too long. Man, I was wrong. Anyways, please bear with me and my random uploads and thank you all for reading! **

**-Kaiyo No Umi**


	30. Black and Purple: Crash

Chapter 2: Crash

SF and Crash walk out of the tent for the boy to find out that they were surrounded by a forest. The treetops covered most of the area, the only source of light was through a multitude of clearings, one of which was where tent was placed. Crash took the place is, full of both awe and confusion.

"So… Miss SF?" The woman turned around, a warm smile on her face. "What are we doing here?" SF pouted and pointed at the amnesiac, poking him in the cheek. Crash stepped back, grunting as he rubbed his cheek.

"Again with the 'Miss' stuff. It's just SF, okay?" Winking one eye and waving her finger, SF watched Crash nod dumbly before continuing to talk. "And right now, we're in the forest that we found you in." She then cupped a hand over her ear, leaning on one side. "If you listen closely, you can hear the river that carried you here." Following her suggestion, Crash copied her. It was faint, but her could hear the sounds of a river rolling over rocks and fallen tree branches. "When we went to the river to refill our canteens, we found you snagged against a tree branch with your body all cut up and bruised." As she said this, SF took out a canteen and began to drink from it, letting out a sigh of relief when she removed the drink from her mouth. "I'm surprised you're still alive with all the injuries that you had."

"Huh…" Crash turned to the sound of the river and gazed in the direction of the sound. Looking at the wristband closely, Crash noticed that there was a smooth purple stone embedded into the band. He poked at it, feeling it's familiar yet unfamiliar touch and letting light shine over it, causing it to twinkle. As he was investigating the band, SF snuck behind him and looked over his shoulder.

"Pretty gem, isn't it?" Startled by her closeness, Crash attempted to move away from the woman, only for her to grab his arm and peer closer at the gem. "I'm no expert in gems, but I believe that this an amethyst." Letting go of Crash, SF let the boy get some breathing space.

"An amethyst?" SF nodded and opened her mouth to speak, only to stop and whip her head to the right as sounds of brush rustling grew more and more pronounced. Clenching her fist, the fighter held out her other arm in front of Crash.

"Get behind me." Looking left and right, a bewildered Crash listened to the woman as a figure burst out of the brush.

"Sir SF!" A soldier wearing a light chestplate that was one size too small, the armor pressing against her clothes. Shoulder and shin guards jiggled around her legs as she ran over to where SF and Crash were standing. On top of the soldier's head was a barrette that had the letter 'Z' embroidered in the middle of the hat. She wore a black uniform that matched her long black hair.

As she moved closer and closer to the pair, the soldier tripped upon flat land and fell down, sliding in front of the two. Crash sweatdropped while SF ran over to the girl, extremely worried.

"Are you okay?" The fighter bent over to the younger girl, carefully looking over her as the girl moved to her knees, rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish smile. The girl assured SF that she was okay and the woman helped her up. Crash noticed that girl had red eyes just like SF.

"Hey…" Crash pointed at the girl, then to SF. "Is she your daughter or something?" Both fighter and soldier stared at Crash silently, causing the boy to look around uneasily. "Is… that a no?" The two looked at each other then nodded their heads simultaneously. Crash scratched the back of his head, chuckling awkwardly. The boy then turned to SF and gestured to the person next to her. "On another note, this girl here called you '_Sir SF_' not '_Miss or Lady_'... does that mean you're a dude or…?" SF raised an eyebrow as the soldier began to cover her giggling.

"Crash, I'm confident in saying that I'm a woman." Crash sighed in relief and immediately noticed SF raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Crash apologized profusely in an attempt to stop any sort of misunderstanding. Looking left and right as sweat rolled down his forehead, Crash looked at the soldier once more, his eyes widening. "Hold on a sec, didn't have something to say to 'Sir SF'?" The girl's eyes widened as she remembered her objective and reached over to SF.

"Sir SF! There's trouble!" Before SF could ask the girl what was wrong, a roar erupted from the trees behind them. Loud footsteps rumbled closer and closer until the sound was deafening. "A dra-"

Almost immediately, a bigger version of an Ancient Dragon with sharper claws and smaller wings burst through the trees, causing the three to move aside as the dragon continued onwards. Crash stared at the monster in bewilderment, pointing at the scaly creature with his mouth gaping. SF checked over the other two and turned to the soldier.

"Alert the rest of the squadron." The soldier nodded and immediately scrambled towards the direction of the dragon. Before Crash could ask her anything, SF handed him an object. It was pistol with neon green lines flowing through it. Crash opened his mouth to speak but SF beat him to the punch. "This is one of Zoni's weapons, a chargeable handgun. You can fire regular energy bullets by pulling the trigger," The woman pointed at the spot where the trigger was. "You put your finger there and pull your index finger, but don't keep your finger on the trigger all the time if you don't want to shoot yourself." Crash stared at the weapon in his hand with wide eyes and was about to let go of it when SF giggled at his reaction. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Let's go." SF ran after the soldier, leaving Crash in the dust.

The boy looked at the weapon in his right hand, then at the retreating figure. Throwing his hands to the side, Crash ran after the woman, quickly catching up to her. Surprised, SF raised an eyebrow upon seeing Crash.

"You're fast aren't you?" Crash shrugged and SF pointed at the dragon. "Try pointing the gun at the back of the dragon's head and firing it." Crash followed her directions and pulled the trigger. "Just be ready for the reco-" Crash's arm snapped back from the gun's recoil and smacked him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. The bullet that was released from the gun's chambers flew past the gargantuan reptile and embedded itself into a tree trunk, it's green energy fading to black.

* * *

Neptune covered her mouth, trying to keep herself from laughing while her counterpart told her to shut up. Noire, IF, Compa, and Vert sweatdropped at Origin-Neptune's screw up, the first two somewhat sympathizing with the boy. Meanwhile, Rom and Ram flinched upon seeing Origin-Neptune hit himself. Blanc heard her counterpart say "Ooooooh" while the CPU herself nodded. Arfoire looked away, puffing out her cheeks and her hands over her mouth. Out of all of them, Uni was the one with her shining eyes locked on the pistol that Origin-Neptune was using.

"Oh man, that pistol looks so awesome!" The CPU Candidate of Lastation clasped her hands together and leaned forward.

"I know right!?" Nepgear copied her friend's actions, only with her eyes shining with stars.

Noire watched Uni and smiled. She was glad that her little sister was open about her hobby… it's just that her's was too embarrassing to show around for her. Shaking the images of her cosplaying in front her friends, Noire returned to watching the story.

* * *

SF skidded to a stop and crouched over Crash. She poked him in the face, a sweat-drop rolling down her face.

"A-Are you okay?" Crash sat up, rubbing and shaking his head. Dark purple eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on the fighter.

"You could have told me about that…" The boy was helped up by SF and covered his face with the palm of his hand. "Argh… my eyes…" Before the woman could look over her ally's injury, another roar interrupted them as the dragon spread its arms out and swung its mighty tail around. SF grabbed the temporarily disabled Crash and hopped over the limb. The tail flew past them and into a tree trunk, breaking straight through the thick tree bark. The inhabitant of the forest toppled under its weight and fell towards the two as they were landing on the ground.

Noticing the falling tree, SF let go of Crash and kicked him away from her while using him as wall to kick off of. The two separated from each other as the tree plummeted onto the ground, pieces of bark and dirt kicking up.

"Crash! Are you alright!" Crash removed his hands from his face to see the fallen giant of the forest and attempted to climb over the gargantuan.

"Yeah! Lemme get over t-" The sounds of growling resounded from the other side of the trunk. "What is that?" Crash could only hear the growling and the sounds of leafs scratching against the dirt.

"Crash… follow the dragon…" The boy attempted to climb over the tree until the earth shook again as the dragon continued walking forward. "Go!" Crash turned to the dragon and to the unseen SF and the sounds of monsters.

"But…"

"_**Go!" **_SF's voice was sharp and commanding, catching the boy off-guard.

Clenching his fist, Crash hopped off the trunk and dashed after the dragon. The reptile had gained a little bit of distance, but was gaining more as the dragon's tail was knocking over more trees, forcing the boy to either dodge or climb over them. Eventually, the monster vanished from Crash's view and he slowed to jog. Somehow, the dragon was so far ahead that its footsteps were too silent to hear.

"There's no way I could have lost that thing so fast!" Whipping his head left and right, Crash paused when he heard a scream erupted from the silence. Crash turned to the right, the sound nearby him. Almost immediately, he hear a roar coming from the same direction. "Over there!" Using his right leg to shoot him forward, Crash raced towards the source of the sounds. Soon, Crash would see the dragon raising its mighty claws into the air. The boy aimed his pistol at the back of the dragon's head, holding the weapon with both hands.

With one finger pulling the trigger down, energy began to build up inside the gun. Eventually, Crash's hands began tremble from the gun's power and released the trigger, launching a ball of green energy the size of a cannonball towards the dragon and sending Crash against a tree. The energy ball connected with the back of the dragon's head, causing it to collapse onto the ground. The impact of the dragon meeting the ground brought Crash's senses back and he picked himself from the tree and ran over to where the dragon was facing. In front of the dragon was the soldier from before, curled up in a ball and shaking slightly.

"HEY!" Crash ran over to the girl and reached out to her. When his finger touched her shoulder, the girl immediately latched onto the boy's torso, her barrette falling off her head and her hair unfolding from a bun into long locks.

* * *

Noire's eyes popped open as a familiar face, especially to her, was finally revealed to her.

"No way!"

* * *

Crash tumbled onto the ground as the girl continued to hold him tightly and began to cry into his shirt. Looking to the unconscious dragon, then to the girl. Crash awkwardly patted her in the hand with one hand and hugging her with the other.

"Hey, are you alright?" The head of long black hair removed itself from the boy's shirt and concerned purple eyes met with tear red ones. The girl rubbed her eyes and nodded her head.

"T-Thank y-" Before the girl could speak any further, a roar erupted from the side as the dragon pushed itself up and swiped at the pair. Crash shoved the girl out of the way and took the brunt of the attack, sending rolling across the ground and lying facedown. The girl scrambled over to the boy and tried to shake him. "Hey! Hey! Please be alright! Please!"

Crash attempted to sit up when he clutched his head in pain, falling back onto the ground and curling into a ball.

_"And you almost killed..." He lo...ed at the two, his eyes... when .. angry. He raised his arm, and it was co... in a flash of li..., his ... katana appearing in his fist. Ce... widened his eyes upon seeing Ne...e's weapon appear,..._

Crash opened his eyes to find himself sitting up, arms wrapped around him fearfully. Another roar rammed into his ears and the boy stood up, seeing the dragon in front of him and the girl. He released himself from the girl's grasp and pushed her to the side. Crash looked at the girl and grinned.

"Stand back for a bit, will you? This might get hairy." Taking a deep breath, Crash looked at the wristband on his arm, raising said arm into the air. His eyes turned to the gargantuan in front of him, glaring at the opponent. "You tried to kill this girl, and then you tried to kill me." A flash of light enveloped his hand and a katana appeared in his grasp. Feeling a familiar weight in his arm, Crash passed the gun to the girl and dashed at the reptile. The dragon clenches a fist and throws a punch at the oncoming boy.

Crash sidestepped the attack and hopped onto the dragon's arm, running up the arm as the giant dragon attempted to free its arm from under the ground. As he approached the enemy's head, Crash readied his sword arm. Once he was in range, Crash pounced towards the dragon's eye, piercing it and causing blood to spew out.

Pain echoed the forest as the dragon trashed its head side to side, flinging Crash off of it and straight into the ground with a loud thud. Once the boy flopped onto the ground, the sword vanished in a flash of light, leaving the dragon with a gaping wound in its eye. The girl ran over to Crash, sighing in relief when she found a pulse in the boy's neck.

The girl turned to see the dragon opening its mouth and roaring with all of its might at them. She pointed the pistol at the dragon's mouth, her hand and lip trembling. Closing its mouth, the dragon raised a claw and began to swipe at the girl.

"Milady!" Bursting from out of the treetops, SF flew towards the dragon and drop kicked it, knocking the reptile off balance and leaving its mouth wide open. "NOW!" The girl released her finger from the trigger, firing another large energy ball towards the dragon. The ball flew into the dragon's mouth and exploded, causing it to fall onto the ground lifeless. Falling onto her knees, the girl let out an exhausted sigh. "Milady!"

SF ran over to the girl. The fighter's body was covered in scratches but she seemed fine. She noticed Crash lying on the ground and placed a hand onto his neck, her head dropping in relief learning he was okay. The girl helped herself up and used SF as a stand to keep her legs steady.

"SF, we must gather the others." SF nodded and looked at the unconcious Crash. "Also, if you'd let me. I'd like to take him back to the capital." SF bowed and smiled.

"Of course…" The girl reached into her pocket and took out a band, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Princess Noire."


	31. Black and Purple: The Knight & Princess

Chapter 3: The Hands-On Knight and the Princess

"I'm… a Lady?" Noire stared in amazement as everyone else clapped in unison. Uni's eyes lit up upon seeing her sister's reaction to her counterpart. The CPU Candidate of Lastation has never seen the look of awe that was prevalent on her sister's face right now. Arfoire clapped loudly and rhythmically to get the attention of everyone in the room.

"Alright, Noire's noble. That's great and all, but I just saw my nephew get thrown into the floor, and I'm worried about his well-being." Arfoire crossed her arms and sat down.

"Yeesh, Afoire. Don't get so angry." Neptune reached over and patted the woman in the back. "Other-Me's just fine. After all, he's in my head." The CPU of Planeptune bopped herself on the head a couple of times, hearing grunts of pain from her counterpart. "Since you can't hear him, Other-Me just cried in pain- Oh, wait…" Neptune pointed a finger up to the sky and looked to the side. "Now he's mad- Oh, now he's calming down. Hmm?" The purplette closed her eyes for a second before opening them. "Okay!" All of a sudden, Neptune plopped down back in her seat and stared ahead. For a minute, the girl said and did nothing. Confused, Arfoire waved a hand over the girl's face and got a couple of blinks in return.

"...Neptune?" The girl in question had an excited smile on her face, and turned her head to look at Arfoire.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you just sit down?" Arfoire was met with shining purple eyes.

"Other-Me said that if I pipe down and behave, he'd let me eat all of the pudding in the fridge!" IF furrowed her eyebrows.

"Don't you do that all the time?" The purple haired CPU shook her head.

"Histy won't let me."

"_**I still won't let you. **_(；￣Д￣)" Neptune pouted and crossed her arms, mumbling something about her counterpart letting her eat pudding all she wants.

* * *

The scene had changed from the forest to a white walled room with a bed in the middle. The windows nearby Crash's bed was made of silk and fluttered gently in the wind. Crash was asleep on a soft bed, this time without bandages and under a blanket that was tucked in. Across the room from the bedframe was a gray door that opened, revealing SF and Noire. The latter had changed out of her soldier uniform to a dress that reached to the end of the floor, the back of it dragging across the floor. The dress was similar to Noire's outfit except was there was no cleavage and her gloves reached all the way to her shoulders. Also, she wore a tiara made of gold with a black onyx embedded into the headpiece.

The woman and the girl walked over to the unconscious boy as the wind drifted into the room and caressed him in the face. Crash shifted his head to the side and slowly opened his eyes.

"Oh, you're awake...again." Crash slowly turned his eyes to SF and Noire. Locking his sights on the elegantly dressed Noire, the boy weakly lifted a finger and pointed it at her.

"Who's… that?" Crash sucked in air and tightened his grip on the bed as he spoke, but he finished his question nonetheless. Giving him a graceful smile, Noire curtsied deeply and stood back up.

"I am Noire Lastation III. I have come here to thank you." Dropping his head on the pillow, Crash groaned and closed her eyes.

"...Thank?" The girl nodded, her long flowing hair bouncing slightly.

"Yes, for rescuing me." The boy stared at the ceiling, screwing his eyes shut.

"When…?" Crash shook his head slowly, his lavender hair falling beside his violet eyes. "I don't… remember helping someone like…" Dropping his head to the side, violet eyes falling upon dark red ones. "...you."

Noire nodded and turned to SF, holding out her hand. SF pulled a black cap from out of her bag and handed it to Noire. Removing her tiara and replacing it with the barrette, Noire leaned closer to Crash, a smile on her face.

"Well?" Crash's eyes slowly widened and his mouth opened up a little, a sound of realization emitting from it. Noire nodded and replaced her barrette with the tiara once again. "If I may, will you let me re-introduce myself?" The boy nodded slowly and the girl smiled. "Thank you." Noire paced back a few steps and turned to faced Crash once more, curtsing once more, her knees almost touching the floor. "I am named Noire Lastation III, the only daughter of my father, King Bandicoot Lastation II and I, the princess of this land, am in your debt." Crash attempted to sit up, only to cringe as SF held him up.

"Urgh… Debt?" Noire nodded as SF helped Crash into an upright position.

"Yes, you rescued me from that horrid dragon. Thus, I owe you my life." Blinking, Crash turned to the Knight of ZRT. The woman shrugged and shook her head.

"I'm not involved in this other than nursing you back to health." Reaching into her bag, SF pulled out another blue bottle. "Speaking of health…" She tossed the bottle to Crash. "Bottoms up!" The boy reached for the bottle, only for the bottle to bounce off of his arm and at his head before landing onto his head. Crash's arms tensed up as his eyes filled with tears. Noire looked on in concern, almost running over to the boy. SF, on the other hand, rubbed the back of her head while chuckling awkwardly. "Sorry…"

Shaking his head, Crash opened the bottle of regenerating liquid and took a swig, his body shining again. Sighing, the boy turned to Noire and SF. "Alright, I get that Ms. S-"

"SF." Crash blinked quickly and looked at the woman who interrupted him, who smiled at him.

"...SF… is a knight, but," The boy now locked eyes with the princess. "You're telling me that the chick who was wearing a uniform, and fell flat on her face no less," Noire flushed upon hearing her flounder. "is a princess?" The two of them nodded, one of them confident while the other one was still flushed. Crash pulled himself onto the headboard, leaning on it. "Can you two give me a minute to process this." The two girls look at each other and nodded, Noire curtsying a farewell while SF opened the door, waving to him with her free hand.

"We'll be back later, so get your thoughts organized." The boy nodded and stared at the ceiling as the door slowly shut, but not before Noire peeked through the tiny crack, made by the door and the doorframe, to look at Crash and closing the door.

* * *

Noire puffed out her chest, thumping it with her fist as the door closed.

"I'm royalty reincarnated. Isn't that amazing?"

"_Oh, uh… She thinks… Huh…" _Neptune looked at her forehead.

"What's up, Other-Me? Is there something you know about Other-N-"

"_Oh, hey look at that! Your memories!" _Origin-Neptune began to hum erratically. "_What do you know? You ate Noire's pudding a couple weeks back." _Neptune froze as her counterpart talked about the event.

"W-What are yo-"

"_She was __**really upset**_ _about it too, saying it was her favorite flavor and I heard it was __**expensive**__. It'd be a shame if-"_

"Lips are closed!" Origin-Neptune sighed in relief as his incarnation sat rigid at the thought of an angry Noire. The last time she had to make up for her, Noire had cleaned a lot of her snack money. There was no way the pudding lover would want that to happen again!

"_Yeah, let's keep it that way."_ Everyone stared at the CPU of Planeptune as she began to sit as stiff as a board while preventing eye contact with a confused Noire.

* * *

The sun had moved since Crash had woken up, and the boy was leaning against the headboard, sound asleep. Creaking open slowly, the door moved aside to reveal Noire wearing a long maid outfit with an anxious smile on her face. She used her shoulder to move the door aside, revealing a bucket filled with water in her arms. Dragging the bucket with some difficulty, Noire placed it next to Crash's bed and reached into her uniform's pocket, taking out a washcloth.

"This should help you get better faster." Noire crouched onto her knees and pushed the washcloth under the surface of the water, only to have her sleeves soak up the water and have more water flow over the bucket and spilling onto the floor. "Ah! Why is it cold!?" Pulling the washcloth out of the water, Noire realized that the cloth was dripping with with water and falling onto her outfit. Looking back and forth quickly, Noire looked at Crash's face, closed her eyes, and tossed it onto the boy's face.

"COLD!" Crash sat up immediately, grasping at his face as he tried to pull the damp cloth off of him.

"Oh no! Are you alright!?" A concerned Noire reached out to him, only to slip on the water and fall, holding onto Crash's arm and pulling him along with her. Noire would fall onto the soaked floor, but Crash would fall headfirst into the bucket full of water, tipping it over and spilling the rest of its contents.

"What was th-" SF ran into the room to see quite the sight on the floor: her princess wearing a soaked maid uniform with tears in her eyes and an unconscious Crash with a bucket on his head, water surrounding the both of them. "...I'm gonna need another elixir, huh?"

* * *

Before, Noire was watching with pride. Now, her jaw ajar and her arms were near her head, as if she needed them to see what she had just witnessed. Neptune, on the other hand, was laughing so hard she was crying.

"_Yeah… the Noire I knew was a complete klutz."_ At this, Neptune began to laugh harder, almost forgetting to breathe. Both Origin-Blanc and Blanc cringed. Ram nodded, staring at the bucket intently while Rom looked at the two concerned. IF, Vert and Arfoire sweatdropped at the sight of the CPUs' predecessors, and in Arfoire's case, her nephew, lying on the ground.

"**Tekken, you're ancestor must have had a hard time (****；￣****Д****)." **Tekken nodded as Compa was rearing to take out bandages and fix them up, fire lighting up in her eyes.

* * *

Noire was now back in a dress, although she was blushing a little while trying to avoid contact with the amnesiac. Crash wore bandages around his head, again, as he glared at the princess. SF crossed her arms and sighed.

"This has been quite a day, am I right?" Noire bowed in apology.

"I'm sorry…" Crash rolled his eyes and reclined against his bed, muttering about how she's lucky.

"Now, now. Don't be like that." SF stood between the two of them, her face turning serious and almost business-like. "Crash, is right to assume you have no experience with guns?" Crash looked at the woman as she had two heads.

"Gun?" SF pulled out the pistol she had given him before. "Oh that- Yeah, I don't. Except that it can hit me in the face." Scratching the back of her head, SF turned to Noire.

"Milady, are you sure about this?" Noire nodded passionately, her hair bouncing a bit.

"Absolutely!" Noire approached Crash and clasped both of her hands over one of Crash's, the boy flinching in both fear and annoyance. "Although he does not know how to use a gun, he seems familiar with fighting!" SF raised and eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" Noire turned to SF and nodded, tightening her grip around the boy's hand. Crash cringed at the girl's grip strength.

"Yes, I've seen his abilities with my own eyes." Shrugging her shoulders, SF reached into her bag and pulled out another blue bottle, placing it on the table.

"Crash, I have a feeling you'll be getting these daily if this keeps up." Crash stopped prying his hand free from the princess and looked at the fighter.

"What do you mean?" Noire leaned closer to Crash, her eyes shining.

"Sir Crash, you have selected to become a Knight of Zoni! More specifically, you shall be one of the ZRT!" Crash blinked his eyes, looked at SF, then Noire, and blinked again.

"What."

"You see, Sir Crash," Crash's eye twitched at the sound 'Sir' reaching his ears again. "You have lost your memory and are unfamiliar with Zoni weaponry, along with the fact that you have no place to stay and having a such combat potential." Noire took a deep breath. "It's been decided that you be placed under SF's tutelage until your memory returns." The princess turns to the side. "Also… it'd be embarrassing if the country knew that their princess was still clumsy on the battlefield. So, you'll be my training partner!"

* * *

Uni attempted to close her sister's still open mouth, but eventually gave up. Although she was somewhat happy about her sister's counterpart. Not only was she, a princess, being a jewel of elegant perfection, still lacking in skill, but at the same time she also used guns to fight. Uni was going to enjoy her sister's past life.

* * *

Crash looks at SF.

"I have no say in this, do I?"

"None." Crash sighed and shook his head.

"Well, I can't say no. So, I guess I'm in." Noire moved closer, her eyes shining brighter. The boy leaned back, uncomfortable, only to end up leaning over the other side of the bed. "Uh, could you… back off a bit, you're kinda close." Confused, the princess finally noticed that the two of them were basically touching noses earlier. Blushing a bright red, Noire let go of Crash and pushed him off the bed, causing the boy to fall off the bed once more.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sir Crash!" SF crosses her arms and smiles.

"It's kind of an awkward time to say this but... Welcome to the ZRT, Crash."

Crash could only emit a groan as the two women went over to the fall boy and help him up.


	32. Black and Purple: Purple Knight

Chapter 4: Purple Knight

After giving Crash another elixir, the boy was able to stand on his feet once again. This time, the two were leading the boy around. As they walked on, Crash looked at the brick walls and then out a window that overlooked a humble town with rooftops of blues, reds, and yellows.

"This completely different from yesterday." He felt a hand on his back.

"Of course, you're in the heart of Zoni, Ratchlank." SF's voice reached his ears while her hand pulled him back inside. "And this is the Castle of King Zoni, Noire's father. Speaking of whom…" The fighter then pointed out that Noire had already walked on, humming a tune and unaware that she was leaving the two behind. Noire passes a multitude of mahogany red doors before stopping at one with a metal plate over the door frame that said, "Armory". Noire reaches for the door as Crash and SF caught up with the princess.

The knight nodded to her majesty and Noire opened the door, revealing a room filled with armors and guns. With a little shove from SF, Crash walked into the room, his eyes taking in the room. Inside the "Armory" were helmets, shoulder guards, shin guards, chest plates, every single piece of armor that would be needed to protect the body, along with guns with varying sizes, such as the one the Crash used the day before and other guns with longer barrels, some with double barrels, others that looked like there was a slice of a beehive on them and many more.

As Crash looked about, Noire and SF looked at the pieces of armor while glancing at Crash at the same time. However, the boy was too focused on array of equipment before him to notice. Noire picked up a helmet that looked similar to the hat that she wore when she first met Crash, but SF shook her head. Placing it back where she found it, SF pulled out a chestplate that looked thin and stiff, which Noire shook her head to. The princess noticed that there was a large pile of helmets to the side and that one of them caught her eye. Grabbing onto the helmet, Noire pulled it out from under the pile and turned to Crash.

"Crash, why don't you tr-" As the boy turned around, the next thing he was helmets falling towards him and the smiling princess. Crash wrapped an arm around the girl and pulled her out of harm's way. As the boy looked over her, Noire stared at the fallen helmets in shock.

"Lady Noire, are you alright?" When Noire turned to answer her, she noticed that her face and Crash's were too close for comfort and answered her instincts: pushing Crash as hard as possible. She didn't push hard, but it was enough for the boy to stumble into a shelf filled with armor pieces. The shelf began to shake and the armor began to slide off. As the two turned around, the armor fell off the shelves and buried them. SF looked on and sighed in exasperation.

"Is this really going to happen every time these two interact?"

* * *

Noire watched on as Origin-Neptune and Origin-Noire were covered in armor pieces. Sighing, Noire grabbed a cup from the table and drank from it quietly. Neptune noticed her best friend's behavior and watched her silently.

"It seems Noire's caught off guard a little." Turning to the sound of the whisper, Neptune locked eyes with Vert, a twinkle in her eyes. The blonde gestured to Noire with her head and Neptune understood the meaning. Standing up, Neptune rushed over to Noire as she placed the cup down and hugged her.

"Hey, Noire! Why are you so down in the dumps, huh?" Surprised at the sudden contact, Noire blushed as Neptune snuggled her.

"Wh-Wh- Neptune!? What are you doing!?"

Watching from the sidelines, Blanc and Origin-Blanc initiated their own conversation.

"_You know, your Noire and our Noire are sort of similar." _Blanc's eyes scrunched.

"How so?"

"_Well, they're both shy. Easily flustered and…"_

"**That's enough, Neptune. Please pay attention to the story. (;¬_¬)" **Neptune apologized to the disembodied voice of Histoire as Noire huffed sadly.

* * *

Pulling himself out from under the pile, Crash popped his head out of the pile and looked around, seeing a dainty hand peeking out of the pile beside him.

"Lady Noire!" Crash reached for the hand and pulled Noire from out of the pile, her eyes swirling as she surface. As she blinked, Noire kept her eyes on Crash. "What is it?" The princes pointed at Crash's body and the boy looked at himself.

A shiny black shoulder guard with a dark blue _Z, _surrounded by a thirty-two pointed star, on the center of the piece had landed on his right shoulder, Taking the armor off of him, Crash admired the piece a little longer before handing to Noire.

"That looks nice." Realizing that he had no idea why he was here, Crash decided to ask the obvious. "So… why are we here?" SF picked up Noire and pulled her out of the pile, leaving Crash to climb out himself.

"Sir Crash, as you are to be recognized as a Knight of Zoni, it is necessary that you look like a knight before you become one." SF took the shoulder guard from Noire and tossed it back to Crash. "And I have the thing to go with that shoulder guard." She placed Noire down and gestured to another door that Crash hadn't noticed. Climbing out of the armor pile, the boy headed towards the door as SF opened it. "You'll find them in the big black box inside." Crash nodded and entered the room. As Noire was about to walk inside, SF stopped her. "Lady Noire," the Knight of Zoni warned, "Sir Crash is about to change, so it would be rude for you to watch him change." Noire blinked and her face flushed.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry!" Noire bowed and her hair trailed behind her head. SF patted the girl on the head and then held a hand out to pile of knocked over armor.

"Now, if you would, a princess must take responsibilities." Noire turned around and sweatdropped.

"Y-Yes…" As the amnesiac opened the box in the other room, Noire and SF began cleaning the armor that was collapsed onto the floor.

As the party looked on, Neptune looked confused and turned to her counterpart.

"Hey, Other-Me?"

"_What is it?"_ Neptune's eyes returned to the scene of Origin-Noire and SF cleaning the room.

"Don't you seem… I don't know, kinda different?"

"_How so?"_

"Well… you're calmer and not as Blanc-angry." She could hear Origin-Neptune sigh.

"_Neptune, it's exactly like what happened to you. We both lost our memories and both of us had no idea how we would have reacted to our situations. In the end, we had to begin a journey with brand new perspectives and gain new personalities."_ The CPU of Planeptune attempted to process what her counterpart just said, squeezing her eyes shut and faint steam rising out of her head. "_...Neptune, just stop thinking and watch."_

"Roger dodger!"

Once SF placed the last helmet into the pile, the door that Crash entered opened. The boy walked out and the princess stared in awe while SF gave him a thumbs up.

Crash was wearing the shoulder guard that fell onto him a while ago on his right shoulder, and along with that was a helmet and some more armor.

On his body, Crash wore a black light chestplate over his clothes that left his shoulders free for shoulder guards, but the boy only wore the one that landed on him. Over his pants were dark black leg guards strapped over his legs and his shoes were replaced with an obsidian pair where the toe cap, heel cap, vamp, welt and heel were replaced with metal and causing his footsteps to clang as he walked forward. His right forearm was given an arm guard while his left one was given a full piece that revealed his white bracelet. Crash's hands wore fingerless gauntlets that weren't made of metal, but rather black leather.

Finally, Crash's helmet covered his entire head, only allowing tiny tips of his hair to peek out of the helmet. It was a shiny black, with a purple amethyst on the forehead of the helmet. The helmet itself spiked out in three places, twice at the back, where one could see the most of his hair, and once over Crash's eyes, making him glare without glaring.

"Ooooooh!~" The princess of Zoni began to clap, as she looked at the boy dressed as an intimidating knight. However, the intimidating factor was demolished as Crash grinned and patted his chest with his fist. Smiling, Noire presses her palms together and then grabs onto Crash's arm. "Alright, now let us go!"

"Wait, wh- AH!" Pulled by a surprising amount of force, a confused Crash was pulled out of the armory and into the hall by an energetic Noire with an smiling SF following behind.

The three walked down long hallways with dark red carpets, passing more mahogany doors and turning brick corners as Noire guided Crash and SF through the castle. As they were navigating the brick walls of the princess's home, SF caught up to the two and leaned close to Crash.

"Sir Crash, whatever happens from now on, please listen to others." Before Crash could ask what she meant, Noire stopped in front of a large mahogany door with a gold door frame.

"_**We have arrived!"**_ Noire threw her hands into the air and the door opened, revealing a lavish and expensive looking room filled with furniture laced with gold and gems. Looking at the room itself caused Crash to cover his eyes as the glistening of the room hurt his eyes. The princess of Zoni rushed inside and sat down on a plush red chair held by a golden frame, her hand patting the seat next to her. "Sir Crash, please sit!" Crash turned to look at SF, but felt a strong force push him inside. Once the boy's foot entered the room, the door closed immediately behind him, causing his eyes to widen.

"SF?" Crash looked around to see that the Knight of the ZRT was missing and saw Noire patting the seat with more energy than when she dragged him along. Awkwardly, the boy in armor clanged over to the shiny eyed princess and sat down, his body stiff and rigid as Noire bounced up and down on the couch.

"This is going to be exciting!" As he watched the girl release her energy, Crash realized that he hadn't asked why he was in this room, sitting next to her.

"Lady Noire, why are we here?" The princess in question stopped bouncing and scratched her cheek.

"Well, I told my father about your exploits and…" Noire gave the boy a shy smile. "He wants to meet with you." Crash released a sigh of relief.

"Your father, that's good." As soon as he let out his sigh, Crash immediately held his breath. "Wait, your father?" Noire nodded.

"Yes, the king." Upon hearing those three words, Crash paled and his left eye twitched.

"What." Looking at his outfit, the boy turned blue. "S-Shouldn't m-meeting a k-k-king… be… I d-d-don't know… g-g-graceful?" Noire giggled at Crash's teeth chattering and patted him on the back and closing her eyes.

"Do not fret, Sir Crash! My father is a kind man, and besides you must wear armor to look like a knight!" As she reopened her eyes, Noire found Crash lying facedown on the ground. "Oh, my apologies." The boy gave the princess a thumbs up and climbed back onto the couch.

As soon as Crash sat down, the mahogany doors opened to reveal two heavily armored men wielding rifles and a gentleman dressed in a black suit.

"Milady," The gentleman gave Crash a mild glare. "...And Sir Crash. The king is ready to have an audience with you." The gentleman turned and walked away, while the knights turned to the side, facing each other. Noire stands up and smiles at Crash, who slowly and shakingly gets to his feet. Shaking her head, Noire grabs Crash's hand and pulls him along. Not expecting her to grab hold of him in front of the knights, Crash paled further as he was dragged past the knights. However, as he passed them. The boy could hear tiny chuckles and sniggers from both men.

* * *

As Origin-Neptune was dragged out of the lavish room, Blanc remembered that fall that her brother took as well as the armor that fell ontop of him.

"Big Bro's been taking a lot of head trauma, he's going to be alright. Right?"

"_Blanc, as you can clearly see. Neptune's fine. After all, it gets worse…"_

"What does that mean?"

"_So how are you and Vert?"_

"Wh- What does my Big Bro have anything to do with Thunder Tits over there!?" Vert looked over to CPU of Lowee as she yelled at her counterpart, who seemed to noticed her. "Not you!"

"_Heh." _The CPU's eye twitched.

"So, how were you and Origin-Vert?"

"_Hey, would you look at that! It's the king!" _Blanc grinned as her counterpart tried to distract her when her eyes laid upon the scene in front of her.

* * *

Crash and Noire were led to a throne room with long black banners, embroidered with gold with a dark blue _Z _surrounded by a thirty two pointed star, hanging around the room. Soldiers stood erect at the sides at the room, guns in one hand and the other at their chest. SF, who was holding a black wooden box, was closest to the throne, where a man sat. The man wore a black robe with white fur while wearing black slacks and a black coat with obsidian colored breastplate.

Upon seeing him, Noire's eyes smiled as she approached her father. The princess of Zoni raised a hand up to her father, who warmly nodded to her.

"Hello, Father!" Norie rushed over to her father's side and sat down on the throne on his left. The king patted Noire's hand and whispered something to his daughter, to which Noire happily nodded to and began whispering back to him. As this exchange happened between father and daughter, Crash stood in the middle of the room, confused and nervous.

Eventually, the king and princess stopped whispering to each other and the king cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone in the room. The king of Zoni stared at Crash with an indifferent look in his eyes.

"You are the one named Crash, am I correct?" The boy in armor, nodded vigorously. As he bobbed his head up and down, the king noticed Crash's unease and stood up. Walking over to him, the king reached out to Crash, who involuntarily stepped back until his shoulder was caught by the man who intimidated him. The king slowly leaned closer to the hyperventilating boy's ear. "Son, calm down." Crash froze at the warmth in the king's words and made eye contact with kind eyes. "I have to address all my subjects this way, but for you…" The king then wrapped his arm around Crash and with his other arm, gestured to Noire. "I can leave an exception to the young lion who rescued my beloved daughter." Shaking Crash, the king patted him on the back, leaving a stunned Crash behind as he returned to his throne.

"T-Th-Thank you, your Majesty." The king laughed as Crash's words reached him, it wasn't a mocking laugh, nor was it insulting. It was a fatherly, jolly kind of laugh.

"Young Crash, formalities are not needed for those close to me or my family." The king of Zoni placed a hand on his daughter's shoulders. "Just call me Uncle Bandicoot." Crash looked at the king, confused.  
"Uncle?" The king nodded.

"Yes, I have also learned that you have lost your memory, and as such, there is nothing that I can do to help you find your family as of right now. However, what I can do is at least try to alleviate the pain of losing your memories by helping you create new memories, and in order to do so I shall accept you into this family as my protege and treat you like a son or nephew." Crash dropped onto his knees, staring at the King Bandicoot with wide eyes while the king looked at his daughter. "I think he's in shock." Noire stared at her friend.

"I think so too, Father." As Noire was about to move from her seat. King Bandicoot beat her to the punch by leaving his seat once more and kneeling in front of Crash.

"Crash, the amnesiac hero, I ask of you to stand." In a trance, Crash struggled to his feet. The king turned to SF and nodded, who walked over to him with the box him her hands. Standing and taking the box from the fighter, King Bandicoot turned the box to Crash. "Young man, with your acceptance to the Zoni Rectangular Table, I present you with this gift. Please open it." Carefully, Crash opened the box to reveal a gun similar to the one that he used. Compared to the rest of Zoni's weaponry, this pistol was white and had a green light shining from the inside, on the edge was a dark blue _Z_.

"What is…" Reaching for the gun, Crash tentatively picked it up and examined it carefully.

"This will be your weapon, and an object that will reveal your status as one of the ZRT." Crash looked at the weapon in awe when he was startled by King Bandicoot closing the box suddenly. "My apologies, I wanted to make sure you didn't fade away." The king cleared his throat once more, this time standing straight. "Crash, for your bravery in assisting the Knights of Zoni and taking down that accursed dragon, and for rescuing the Princess of Zoni, my daughter, Noire, I hereby officially declare as a Knight of Zoni, and more specifically, of the ZRT." All the soldiers, including SF, bent to one knee as King Bandicoot spoke. Confused, Crash did so as well, although he almost hit the box in the process, gaining a small chuckle from the king and Noire. "Rise, Purple Knight!" Crash looked up, one eyebrow raised. Looking side to side, King Bandicoot cupped a hand over his mouth. "_That's your title, son. If it makes you feel better, my daughter thought of the name."_ Silently thanking Noire, Crash stood up. King Bandicoot winked at him. "I wish you well on your journey to find yourself." Turning around, the king's voice boomed. "DISMISSED!"

Immediately, the room cleared out, with the king patting Crash on the head and leaving him alone with Noire and SF. SF patted Crash on the back and gave him a thumbs up as Noire bounded off her throne and over to Crash. Once again, Crash fell onto his knees. The princess hovered over the newly christened Purple Knight.

"Well, aren't you happy?" Crash stared at her with a blank look on his face. Norie extended a hand towards him. "Let's work hard, Sir Purple Knight." Taking the hand with his own shaking hand, Crash smiles.

"Thank you… Lady Noire."


	33. Black and Purple: Trust

Chapter 5: Trust

After leaving the throne room, SF led Crash and Noire down more corridors and hallways until the doors changed from a round door frame with a light brown door and a simple-looking sliver plate that was blank. There was simple gold doorknob with a keyhole.

SF turned to the two and stood with her back straight and arms crossed.

"Recruit!" The change in SF's tone of voice surprised the two. Crash looked at the fighting knight, then to Noire, then pointing at himself. "Yes, this will be your lodging." Reaching into her pocket, SF pulled a silver key with a black handle. The knight grabbed Crash's hand and opened it, placing the key onto his palm. Immediately, SF winked at him with a smile. "Hope you like it."

As SF stepped aside, Crash looked at the key in his hand. Noire placed her hands onto the boy's shoulder and leaned forward to examine the key closely. In an instant, the princess's red eyes shined.

"This will the first time I get to see inside a Knight's room!" The girl looked at Crash with expectant eyes, causing the boy look at the other knight, and his senior, uncomfortably. SF shrugged her shoulders. Turning back to the princess, who did not move away from her current position, Crash walked over to the door, moving the key towards the doorknob and having Noire separate herself from him.

Crash placed the key inside and turned to SF with a lost look on his face. Smiling, the woman made a turning motion with her hand, which the boy followed. The sounds of the lock functioning and unlocking the door reached the ears of the three people. As he turned the key, the doorknob moved along with Crash's hands. Slowly, Crash pushed open the door and revealed the his new home.

As all brand new rooms, this room was empty except for a bed with a black bedsheet and a white pillow. To the right of the bed was an empty cabinet and bookshelf, while on the wall opposite of the bed small table with an unlit oil lamp. Across from the door was a large round window that opened to a cliffside view of the town, through the window, the moon was shining through and lit up the room, revealing the area with a silver light.

The three of them entered the room, with Noire running inside. The princess's eyes wandered over the entire room, her red irises shining with every object that landed on it. Spreading her arms, Noire turned to her two companions.

"This room is amazing!" Crash and SF looked at each other, then back to Noire. "There's so much space here, yet this room is so small! This is completely different from my room!" SF smiled at Noire's excitement and Crash examined the room as the princess rummaged around the empty room.

* * *

As Origin-Neptune looked around, the party watched Origin-Noire's reactions.

"Wow, I've noticed this before, but Noire's completely different from her original counterpart." The raven haired CPU looked at the purplette CPU, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neptune raised her arms in defense as Noire loomed towards the smaller girl. Uni put a hand on her chin, tilting her head.

"It is true, the original Noire is more composed and experienced compared to my sister." Upon hearing the complement, Noire turned to her sister, flattered.

"Thanks, Uni." Uni smiled as Blanc leaned next to her.

"Yeah, but she's not as honest as her original counterpart." As Noire widened her eyes and turned to Blanc, Vert nodded.

"Yes, Origin-Noire is friendlier than our Noire." The black haired girl flipped around, her cheeks flushing.

"I am friendly!" Noire sweared, but the other three CPUs slowly approached the girl, teasing her and making her react more. The Candidates, IF, Arfoire and Histoire watched as the the CPU of Lastation tried to convince the other three CPUs to stop teasing her. Tekken just smiled.

"Everyone's so friendly." Compa smiled as well.

"They sure are!"

* * *

A big yawn erupted from Crash's mouth as he attempted to cover his mouth.

"I guess we should let you sleep." Noire pulled her head out of the empty bookshelf, frowning.

"Aw, already?" SF gestured to Crash who was struggling to stay balanced.

"I believe that Sir Crash- I mean, Purple Knight, has had a long day." The girl was upset, but she nodded her head.

"I guess we should let you sleep." Nodding, Crash slowly took off his armor, placing the pieces onto his bookshelf and then collapsing onto his bed. Pulling the blanket over him, Crash sighed he kept his eye closed. After a minute, the boy felt warm wind caress his face.

"Ugh… Did I leave the window open?" Sitting up, Crash turned to his right to see that the window was closed. "Wait a second, the wind came from the left…" Turning around, Crash met familiar red eyes.

"Sir Crash, does this bed not suit you?" Startled, Crash pointed at her and SF, who stood by Noire.

"Why are you still here? Don't you need to sleep!?" Noire tilted her head.

'We need to say goodnight first." The boy blinked, rubbed his eyes, and blinked again. He turned to SF, who nodded. Sighing, Crash looked at the princess.

"Goodnight, Lady Noire." Noire smiled brightly, bid Crash goodnight and left the room, with SF following after her. Scratching his head, Crash plopped onto his bed and closed his eyes once more.

"Purple Knight, awaken." A hand patted Crash in the face, causing the boy to groan and slowly open his eyes. Sitting up, Crash looked to the left annoyed, only to widen his eyes in surprise. Instead of Noire or some random person, Crash was staring at the face of his king.

"Wha-! Milord!" King Zoni but a finger up to his mouth.

"I apologize, Purple Knight. However, I have a question that I wish to ask of you and I could not wait til morning to ask." Rubbing his eyes, Crash stared at his king. "Young Crash, my daughter has claimed that you know how to wield a blade. Is this true?" The boy tilted his head.

"Blade?" King Zoni reached from where he was sitting- he had pulled up the chair from Crash's table- and placed a book on his lap. The book's cover was faded with age and was worn out from all the use it has been through. As the king opened the book, the sounds of crisp pages turning filled the room.

As Crash watched the king flip through the book, he realized that His Majesty was able to get into his room and then remembered he was a king. Before he could think too hard about the idea, Crash let go of the idea and continued to watch King Zoni flip through the book.

Finally, the king stopped at a page and held it to him, the moon's light revealing the page to be a picture of a man in black light armor holding a simple looking version of the pistol that the King had given him and a broadsword. King Zoni placed his finger onto the sword.

"This is a blade." Crash gingerly took the book from the king and examined the weapon.

"It looks familiar." The king had a smile on his face. "Although it's different from the one I used that one time before."

"Perfect." The king took the book back and left the book open on his lap. "Swords have changed shape and form as they reached far away places."

"Far away?" The king nodded.

"Hundreds of years ago, Zoni had soldiers trained in a fighting style of supreme caliber. They were able to wield the strength of the blade, and the accuracy of the gun at the same time. They were masters of both long ranged and close ranged combat. Those soldiers at that time were named 'True Knights of Zoni'."

"Years ago?" The king nodded. "What happened?" Sighing heavily, the king flipped to a page where two figures were fighting, one holding a sword and another holding a gun.

"The common flaws of mortal men. Pride. Power. Greed, and many more. Some believed that the sword was stronger than the gun while others believed the opposite. The conflict of ideals resulted in a civil war between the two beliefs that eventually ended in the Gun Faction becoming superior and spread the Sword Faction throughout the world." The king closed the book and shook his head. "The art of the sword has been forbidden in Zoni's military. However," The king looked at Crash with eyes as bright as his daughter's. "I believe that you can change that."

Crash pointed at himself, bewildered.

"Me?" The king nodded.

"Yes, since you just confirmed that Noire's claim was true. You may very well be the first 'True Knight of Zoni' in a long time." Suddenly, Crash looked confused.

"Wait, milord. Why are you asking me to fulfill this title?" King Zoni had a bitter smile on his face.

"Young Crash, the Purple Knight. I am a dreamer. However," The king looked at his hands. "This dreamer has grown too old to attempt that to complete that dream, and at the same time I am a king that does not believe in the power of the sword. Luckily, I taught Noire to be open about different fighting styles so that may be why she was not offended by your weapon."  
"Then what about SF?"

"Miss SF, she is not born in Zoni, like you. She comes from a land of the far north." The king then patted Crash in the head. "Also, you rescued my daughter with no demand for reward. No man would not rescue and princess and demand a reward. Therefore, I believe that you are different." Crash allowed the king to play with his hair and smiled at his majesty.

"Milord, you forget that I lost my memory." King Zoni began to laugh heartily but stopped himself.

"You have and I'm not forcing you to become a 'True Knight', but I am waiting eagerly for your answer. Good Night, Crash." King Zoni ruffled Crash's hair before replacing his chair with one hand and holding the book in the other. As King Zoni left the room and closed the door, Crash lay back down onto his bed and closed his eyes.

Seconds later, Crash opened his eyes, glaring at the ceiling.

"...I can't sleep."

* * *

"Ne, Arfoire." The silver-haired woman looked at the CPU of Planeptune. "Why is Noire's dad so nice to Other-Me?"

"Well…" Arfoire sighed and crossed her arms. "From what I heard, the original Noire's father had lost his wife sometime after Noire the Third was born." Suddenly, the room got heavy and everyone looked at the dark room.

"Poor guy…"

"...I feel sorry for him."

* * *

Eventually, the sun arose and Crash sat up. The boy's purple hair was a mess and his eyes had dark circles around them. Crash got up from his bed and noticed a pile of clothes on the table in his room. Moving closer, there was a folded piece of paper on them. Picking up and unfolding the paper, Crash read the note out loud.

"Sir Crash, this will be your uniform from now on, please wear it." Looking at the bottom of the note, he saw the name of SF. Crash placed the paper beside the pile of clothing and unfolding the clothes. In the pile was a thick black sleeveless undershirt, a black overcoat and black fingerless gloves and pants. The new knight looked at his armor on the nearby bookshelf and then at his clothes. Crash put his new clothes and learned that the overcoat stopped just above his ankles. Putting his armor back on, Crash looked out the window to see the town from below.

"Enjoying the view?" The purple haired knight turned around to see SF at the door, a key in her hand. "Morning, Crash."

"Good morning, Miss- I mean SF." The woman smiled and stepped to the side, revealing a wide awake Noire. "Good Morning, Lady Noire." Noire's eyes shined upon seeing Crash's new outfit.

"Good Morning, Sir Crash! That outfit is great on you!" Noire began to zip around Crash, examining the boy with great passion, surprising Crash. SF patted the boy on the soldier.

"Looks good on you." SF then gestured to the door. "Why don't we get some breakfast?" Suddenly, the two heard the sounds of a stomach growling. SF and Crash looked to see Noire holding her stomach and blushing red.

"I would like that very much." SF and Crash looked at each other then laughed.

* * *

"Origin-Noire's quite honest." Noire glared at Vert.

"You guys already teased me, so stop it!" Noire's plea fell on deaf ears as Neptune glomped the CPU.

"That doesn't mean that we can't do that again!" Once again the CPUs teased Noire while the rest of the party watched.

* * *

"That was delicious." Noire walked out of the room, patting her stomach. SF and Crash followed her with surprise in their eyes.

"I didn't think that Lady Noire could eat so much food." SF patted Crash on the back, while shaking her head.

"You get used to it… eventually." Sounds of gunfire caught the attention of the three and they looked out a nearby window to see a handful of people in a courtyard. The people, Crash realized, were Knights of Zoni. Yet, they did not wear any armor like Crash or SF.

"Why don't they have armor?" SF noticed that Noire was too satisfied to explain so she took over for her.

"These are brand new recruits and they cannot wear armor until they get used to and control the force of the gunfire.

"Wait, then what about me?"

"From what I've seen, you need the armor in order to use Zoni's weaponry." Crash looked on, the words from King Zoni echoing through his mind.

"_Am I really able to fulfill the king's request?"_ Suddenly, Crash felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking to his right, he saw an energetic Noire at his side.

"Are you ready, Sir Crash?" Crash raised an eyebrow at the excited princess.

"Ready for what, milady?" Noire threw her arms into the air.

"Training!"


	34. Black and Purple: New Beginnings

Chapter 6: New Beginnings

As SF and Noire lead Crash through the hallways of the castle, the party began to stretch after sitting down for a long time.

"Ahhh, break time!" Neptune plopped herself onto the couch she had sat in previously. After inhaling and exhaling deeply, Neptune's eyes landed on a pudding cup with a spoon sitting on top of it. "AH, pudding~!" The CPU immediately pounced towards the sweet treat when Noire's hand pulled the cup away.

"Oh, no. Not this one. This one's mine!" The black haired CPU kept the pudding cup close to her, causing the purple haired CPU to pout angrily.

"Noire, don't be stingy, gimme!" Neptune jumped over to the black haired girl and attempted to pull the pudding cup away from her.

"Hey, get off!"

"No! I want that pudding!"

"Wh-Where do you think you're touching!?"

As the two were squabbling over the pudding cup, the rest of the party watched.

"So much for taking a break." Blanc picked up a book from the side and began to read. Rom began to yawn and Ram dropped her head onto Blanc's shoulder, closing her eyes. Vert reached for a teacup and poured herself a cup of tea.

"It's weird…" Nepgear placed a hand on her chin and Uni's attention drifted to the CPU Candidate of Planeptune.

"What's weird, Nepgear?" Nepgear watched the two CPUs fighting over the pudding cup.

"Since both Noire and Neptune both love pudding so much, wouldn't there be more pudding cups than just one?" Once her question popped up, the two Candidates looked at the table to see a lone pudding cup sitting on the table.

"Ah."

"Goodness." IF and Compa pulled Neptune away from Noire and IF shoved the other pudding cup into the CPU's hands while Compa patted her on the head. Noire huffed and began eating her pudding. Arfoire looked on sweatdropping.

"These girls…"

"**They seem to be enjoying themselves, which is a good thing."**

"But it's not at the same time."

Neptune popped a spoonful of custard pudding into her mouth. The CPU's cheeks were dusted a pinkish red as the gelatinous substance melted on her tongue.

"Mmmm, pudding is sooooo goood." In her mind, Neptune could hear her Original-self chuckle as she ate. "Although it doesn't beat Compa's pudding!" Compa hugged the purple haired girl and nuzzled her in gratefulness. "Right, Other-Me?"

"_Yes, Neptune. I guess it's great."_ Neptune's eyes drifted from Compa to the story as Origin-Noire and SF led Crash to a courtyard.

* * *

The three entered a courtyard that had a long row of identical targets lining up next to each other.

"Sorry, Sir Crash. But I must go prepare for this training session." Noire bowed deeply as Crash waved a hand and smiled at the princess.

"It's alright, Lady Noire. Take your time." Noire nodded and left at the speed of sound. As the princess ran into the castle, SF turned to Crash.

"Crash…" The boy looked at the girl,, tilting his head.

"What is it?"

"Have you gotten used to your new gun?" Crash shook his head and reached into his overcoat, taking out the brand new gun that King Zoni had given him. Crash's white pistol was a stark contrast compared to his black outfit. The light green hue of the gun and the purple in the amethyst of his helmet and in the irises of his eyes clashed against each other.

"I've honestly haven't tried it yet." SF raised an eyebrow as Crash examined his gun.

"Well, the gun is identical to the one you used the other day. It can fire regularly and charge your bullets for more damage." The boy nodded and began to wrap his finger around the trigger until SF stopped him. "First rule of using a gun: Leave your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire." Surprised at how SF keeps changing between serious and kind, all Crash could do is nod his head.

"Sorry for taking so much time!" The two turned around to see Noire approaching and wearing a new outfit. The princess wore a black pleated skirt with white thighhighs and grey blouse with a black corset with a blue _Z_ in the front, replacing her dress. Her tiara was replaced with the barrett that she wore when she met Crash. Finally, she wore a dark blue cloak with maroon highlights that flowed alongside her ponytail. Noire skidded to stop in front of the two and bent over to catch her breath.

SF nodded and turned to the targets that lined the middle of the courtyard.

"This will be your training for today." SF held her hand out to Crash. "Sir Crash, may I see your weapon?" Crash handed the woman the weapon and SF walked closer to the furthest target on the right. The knight turned to the two and took a deep breath.

Immediately, SF spun around, firing the gun and hitting the center of the target. Dropping to the ground, SF rolled forward and stopped to a crouch, firing and hitting another bullseye. From her crouched position, the woman flipped forward and fired in mid air, hitting two more bullseyes.

Noire clapped her hands together while Crash widened his eyes and let his mouth hang open.

SF landed on her feet and ran forward while shooting the gun, scoring three more targets. Once SF reached the last target, she held the trigger down, letting power build up from within the gun. When a green glow began pouring out of the gun, SF released the trigger and a fast ball of energy shot towards the target, blasting it to smithereens.

"Wooooooow!" Noire clapped as SF returned. The woman scratched the back of her head and handed Noire the pistol.

"Thank you, milady. Now, you try." Noire nodded passionately and took the gun, walking forward to the targets. Crash turned to SF.

"That was amazing, but… the targ-" As Crash was asking the question, a blur passed by the two and Noire. As soon as Crash was able to turn in the direction that the blur had moved, the targets were good as new. "Wha-" SF crossed her arms and smirked.

"Don't underestimate Zoni's staff, I learned early on." SF looked at the princess's back. "Lady Noire, you may begin when you are ready!"

Taking a deep breath, Noire pointed the gun at the target. Pulling the trigger, an energy bullet flew out of the gun and into the center of the target.

"She hit it in her first try!" SF put a hand in front of Crash's face.

"Sir Crash, observe." Noire attempted to roll forward, only to end up reaching for her toe- barely reaching them- and falling onto her face. Scrambling to her knees, Noire fired her gun and scored another bullseye.

"Wait, she…" SF nodded.

"Although she has accuracy, Lady Noire does not have the mobility to perform proficiently in battle." As SF spoke, Noire attempted to flip forwards and falling flat on her face. Whimpering, Noire stood up and dusted off her clothes, turning to the other two and giving them a wide grin and a thumbs up. Crash waved at the girl, but SF clapped her hands.

"That's enough for now, Lady Noire." Pouting, Noire returned to SF and scratched the back of her head. "Now, Sir Crash. It is your turn." Noire handed the gun back to Crash, giving an encouraging smile.

"R-Right." Crash took the pistol and approached the targets. A blur passed him and the wind caused him to blink. When his vision came back, the targets that Noire had shot had been replaced.

Before SF could prompt him, Crash fired his gun, barely grazing the bottom of the target.

"Geh!" Shaking his head, Crash rolled forward and stopped at a crouch.

"Amazing, Sir Crash can move just as you can, SF!" SF shook her head.

"Yes, but his accuracy..." Once Crash aimed, he threw out his left arm behind him. "Hmm?" The boy pulled the trigger and this time the bullet hit above the center. As he used his legs to propel himself into the air, Crash spun in the air, his left arm still out. The knight in training fired the gun once more, this time missing the target completely. Once he finished spinning, Crash dropped onto the floor, his gun landing behind him.

"What happened?" Noire looked at the fallen knight, worry in her eyes.

"If I had to guess…" A groan could be heard as Crash rolled around, his hands covering his face. "The recoil from the gun forced it backwards and hit Sir Crash in the face."

"AH MY NOSE!" SF sighed and approached the young boy.

"That's enough for now, Sir Crash." The boy sat up, his eyes watering as Noire picked up his gun. Crash stood up, taking the weapon from Noire and thanking her. "Sir Crash, what were you doing with your left arm?" The knight in training looked at his empty hand.

"I don't know…" Crash opened and closed his hand repeatedly. "But I felt that there should have been something in my hand." SF placed a hand under her chin and nodded.

"I see." The woman turned around and snapped her fingers, the targets disappearing. "Training is over for now." Noire looked at SF with frown.

"Eh!? Why, we just started?" SF shook her head.

"No, this was just an assessment of your skills. Tomorrow, you will have your real training." SF turned around and walked away. "Rest up and prepare for tomorrow. You have the rest of the day to yourselves." The two watched as SF left the courtyard.

"Aaaaaah! I wanted to train more!" Noire collapsed onto the ground, dust kicking up as she did so. Shrugging, Crash stayed standing.

"I wanted to as well, Lady Noire. However," The knight pointed to the princess. "I don't believe you should be sitting there." Noire waved him off.

"It's fine. These are combat clothes, they're meant to get dirty." The princess patted the ground next to her. "Come on, Sir Crash sit down!" Unable to resist Noire's smile, Crash reluctantly sat down and Noire looked up to the cloudless blue sky.

For a moment, the princess's eyes were locked onto the endless blue sky and all the knight could do was sit there and watch the princess stare.

"Sir Crash, do you wanna know why I'm so excited to train?" The knight looked at the princess, raising an eyebrow.

"Honestly, no. Why?" Noire pouted but let Crash's comment go.

"I grew up listening to father's stories, about knights who could wield both a gun and a sword." Crash blinked as Noire laid on the ground, her arms spread out. "Knights who were masters of power and agility. I dreamed that one day…" Noire reached out to the sky, balling her hand into a fist. "That I would be just like them, but it was impossible without a way of learning how to use a sword." Noire turned to Crash, a smile on her face. "That is, until you appeared."

"Huh? Me?" Noire nodded.

"Yes, although you have no memory, you know how to use the sword." Noire sat up, clasping her hands. "I know this is selfish of me, but when you recover your memories…" The princess grabbed one of Crash's hands and locking eyes with him. "Would you please teach me the way of the sword?" Crash was taken aback by Noire's request, but before the boy could answer, Noire pulled herself up.

"There's no need to answer right now, seeing as you don't have your memories." Noire spun around and grinned at Crash. "Well, I'll see you later!" Noire walked away humming to herself, leaving Crash by himself.

"Memories…" Crash stared at his left hand. eyes unfocusing.

* * *

"_..ne, don't think you can run away!" Crash put his right hand onto his hip, grinning widely at the boy in front of him, who's face shadowy and blurry._

"_Eh, not really. I just wanted a change of scenery." Crash shrugged and shifted into a battle stance, a wooden sword in plain view. "Anyways, let's get started."_

* * *

_Crash now stood in front of two monsterous opponents, his eyes turning red with rage._

"_You… You were about to kill…" The boy then glanced to see the same boy that he was fighting before lying face down, beat up and unconcious. "And you almost…" Crash raised his left arm, a white bracelet on his wrist, and in a flash of light, a sword appeared in his fist. Lowering the weapon, Crash rushed toward his enemies, slashing at a giant ball of fire._

* * *

Crash blinked and shook his head. The boy then looked at the white bracelet that was around his wrist. The bracelet that had been on him ever since he entered Zoni. Crash had kept the bracelet on him at all times, only taking it off when he had to put on his armor and replacing it back immediately.

"This is…" Crash stood up, eyes still locked onto the bracelet. "... a part of me…" Looking around, Crash noticed that the sun was beginning to set. Raising his arm into the air, Crash inhaled and exhaled deeply.

A flash of light.

Suddenly, the boy felt something in the palm of his hand, closing around it instinctively. Once the flash was gone, in Crash's hand was a katana. To him, this weapon felt familiar… the weight felt right, nothing was odd about. Crash began to move through the air, flipping about and swinging the weapon naturally. With one last swing that created sound, Crash stood straight and stared at the weapon.

* * *

"_...take care my son." Crash was now kneeling in front of a dead man, someone precious to him. Surrounding him was a burning village and in this hands, was a katana._

* * *

Tears began to flow out of Crash's eyes and dripping onto the katana. As the boy wiped his eyes with his sleeve, a figure approached him from behind.

"Purple Knight." King Zoni placed a hand onto Crash's shoulder. "What are you doing here this late?" The boy finished wiping his eyes and turned to the king, holding out his weapon. "Is there something wrong?"

"Milord, I…" Eyes raw from crying, Crash stared at the king. "I've made a decision." The king looked at the sword then to Crash, who kneeled onto the ground and clutched his sword in his hand.

"What is it, Purple Knight?"

"I will become a True Knight… of Zoni." King Zoni kneeled as well and placed his hands on Crash's shoulders, revealing a tearful smile.

"Thank you… Crash."

* * *

A flash of light covered the party's eyes and returned them to Lastation. Sitting on her book was Histoire, who was nodding off and struggling to stay away. Nepgear picked up Histoire and everyone else stretched.

"I guess that's it for now, huh?" Arfoire nodded and cracked her neck, much to the surprise of the entire room.

"We'll continue once Histoire has rested up." The party agreed and began to chat about random topics as Histoire curled up and drifted off to the land of dreams.

**To be continued in… **

**White and Green**

* * *

**_Hello, everyone. This is KaiyoNoUmi here. I just wanted to let people know a couple of things._**

**_1\. I'm going to take a break on the Quartet for a bit. No, I'm not dropping it._**

**_2\. I going to focus on A Mother's Budding Family_**

**_And 3. I will be writing a prequel to A Loner's Idol Family, more information about this story will be in my profile. So please, take a look at it._**

**_That's pretty much it. So, have a happy holidays and I'll see you in A Mother's Budding Family._**

**_-KaiyoNoUmi_**


	35. Intermission Thirteen: Break

Intermission 13: Break

* * *

While everyone was waiting for Histoire to wake up from her nap, the CPUs decided to indulge in their own hobbies. Neptune was devouring sweets at the snack table, prioritizing the pudding, including Noire's.

"_Uh… I think you shouldn't eat that." _As Neptune picked up the pudding cup next to Noire, the Lastation CPU narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, Neptune! That's mine!" Grinning, the Planeptune CPU gave her companion a peace sign.

"Thank you, Noire!" As Neptune peeled off the lid, Noire stood up.

"_...Oh no."_ Noire charged Neptune, reaching for the pudding cup.

"I said that's my pudding!" Neptune pulled away as Noire pressed her weight against the smaller girl, causing the two to fall over.

"Aw, come on Nowa~. Sharing is caring!" Noire wrenched the plastic cup away from Neptune and stuck her tongue out before returning to her seat. Neptune sat up and pouted. "Aw shucks, I thought that my adorable charm and my status as the main character would sway Noire."

"_Your status as a what." _Neptune's grin returned.

"This series is named 'Hyperdimension Neptunia'. And since my name is in the game, I should have all the authority to do everything I want!"

"_...I have no idea what you're talking about. The only thing I know is that you sound stupid."_ Neptune rocked in her seat as she hummed to herself.

"Aw, come on Other Me! It sounds awesome to be a hero! But being a main character is even better! Did you want to be a hero as a kid, like ever?"

"_First of all, no it doesn't. I grew up in a war torn land, where no heroes existed. The closest one I had to a hero was my dad, and you know how he ended up."_ Origin-Neptune reminded Neptune of this fact bitterly. "Second_ of all, I'm basically dead and inside the body of a girl who has the attention span of a Kupton Kit and has an strange attraction to anything that smells or sounds sweet or delicious."_

"Aw, don't be like that!" The girl suddenly blinks and picks up a cookie, biting into it. "Come to think of it, in the scene where you were giving Blanc that ball of light, you were bleeding a lot. What happened to you?"

"_..." _Neptune could hear a growl inside her head as everyone froze and turned their attention towards the CPU. Suddenly, the CPU of Planeptune had lost control over her body and was engulfed in an intimidating aura, crushing the cookie in her hand.

"Um… Lady Neptune…" Falcom, who had wandered into her own world while polishing her sword. "Your emitting an aura that is _very_ out of character." Noire steeled herself as Uni gripped onto an armchair, Nepgear placed her tea down and stared at her sister in complete worry, Rom and Ram ran behind Vert, who threw her hands out protectively. Blanc had her head down, face unreadable.

"Hey… Neptune, are you mad? Cause if it was the pudding, I can just get you another one." Compa simply stared at her friend.

"That's not Nep-Nep." Everyone in the room, minus Neptune, Blanc and IF, turned to Compa.

"What are you talking about?" Uni wanted to get up, but Neptune's presence terrified her. IF shook her head.

"That's not Nep, that's Nep's original self." Before anyone could question her, Blanc walked towards Neptune, her eyes were sharp, a huge contrast to her duller and just as imposing look.

"She's right." Despite sounding exactly like Blanc, the girl let out a powerful, confident voice. In fact, her posture was completely different to her lax and indifferent stance that she always had. Blanc walked over to Neptune as if she had a mission. "Neptune." Blanc clapped a hand over Neptune's shoulder, shaking her for a second. "You alright?" The clenched fist moved up.

"_Blanc…"_ Neptune felt control return to her. "_Sorry Neptune, I lost my cool there for a second. I'll tell you about it later." _The aura faded and Neptune looked around, bewildered at what just happened. When the aura faded, Blanc nodded and dropped her head again. When her head rose, her eyes had returned to normal. The CPU of Lowee glanced to the side.

"Why did you do that?"

"_Something was going on with my brother, and I wanted to make sure th-"_

"Without my permission?"

"_Oh, that's what you're angry about… my apologies."_

"Damn right." Blanc helped Neptune, who looked spooked to say the least, up to her feet. When the girl was able to perceive her surroundings again, the girl grinned and gave the girl a bif hug.

"Blanc, you're the greatest!" The CPU shrugged her shoulders and pulled Neptune off of her.

"Mmm…" The girl immediately returned to her spot and picked up her book.

"**My apologies, but my three consecutive ten minute power nap is over."** Histoire floated back into the room with Arfoire in tow. Upon seeing all the girls, who haven't moved an inch when Blanc walked over to Neptune.

"Ah, my cookie!" The CPU of Planeptune looked at the crumbs in her hand, tears flowing down her face. Histoire sweatdropped as Arfoire walked over to the girl, patting her on the head.

"There's plenty more."

"_...I'm sorry for the cookie too."_

"Okay… I forgive you." Histoire sighed.

"**I might as well start creating the visuals…" **The girl on the tome floated into the air as everyone gathered back onto their seats. Once the flash had receded, the girls were greeted to a snowy forest that trees with no leaves, only snow piled up on the branches as more snow faintly fell to the ground.


End file.
